About Privatbahn Magazin

Privatbahn Magazin

Privatbahn Magazin (PriMa) is the German-language business magazine of the railway industry — "the modern business magazine of the railway industry on its way into the logistics age". Published since 2007 by the Bahn-Media Verlag in Suhlendorf (Lower Saxony), it appears every two months (January, March, May, July, September, November) and addresses the decision-makers and middle management of the railway companies as well as their customers and business partners in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries. Its topics: logistics, technology, rail infrastructure, digitalisation and transport policy — with a distinct emphasis on business-management themes prepared specifically for rail, and an editorial line in favour of more traffic on rail. The publishers: Prof. Dr. Uwe Höft, Dr. Ansgar Burghof and Christian Wiechel-Kramüller — the railway expertise, the publishing entrepreneurship. The ISSN: 1865-0163 — the print magazine's registered identifier; the IM FOKUS supplement's: 1868-4386. The 19th volume year ran in 2025.

Overview

Privatbahn Magazin is a German-language B2B trade magazine for the railway industry, published by the Bahn-Media Verlag GmbH & Co. KG in Suhlendorf. It appears every two months — the January, March, May, July, September and November issues — under the banner "ERFOLG BRAUCHT INFORMATIONEN" (success needs information): news and background information from the European railway and logistics industry, delivered free to the house ("Alle zwei Monate frei Haus"). The readers: the railway industry's decision-makers — the railway companies' executives and middle management, the customers and business partners, the transport policymakers. The executives read the magazine as the industry's business forum: the company portraits, the decision-maker interviews, the policy debates. The middle management reads it for the trends: the technology, the digitalisation, the logistics. The customers and business partners — the industry, the shippers — read it for the market: the carriers' strategies, the infrastructure's development. The transport policymakers read the magazine's pro-rail line: the modal-shift arguments. And the interested laypeople — the railway enthusiasts — read the history excursions: the fascinating world of rail transport. The programme: backgrounds, reports, analyses; regular interviews with decision-makers; the direct line to current trends in research, technology, economy, transport policy and logistics; small excursions into railway history. Since October 2009 the German print edition has been complemented by the digital English-language magazine European-Rail Markets (PriMa European-Rail Markets), an e-paper (PDF) for the international railway market. The commercial model is the B2B trade magazine's: the subscriptions (157 euros inland, 207.90 euros European abroad, 30 percent student discount), the industry's advertising, the supplements. The subscriptions reach the railway companies, the industry, the policymakers: the industry's decision-makers. The advertising comes from the industry's suppliers: the manufacturers, the service providers. The supplements — the IM FOKUS PR inserts, the Zukunftsbranche Bahn job market — extend the revenues: the companies' presentations, the recruiters' ads.

History

Privatbahn Magazin's history is the Bahn-Media Verlag's founding story. The publisher was founded on 1 October 2003 in Suhlendorf by Christian Wiechel-Kramüller; its first magazine title was the OHE Express, the corporate magazine of the Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen (OHE), first published in 2005. The OHE Express — the private railway's corporate magazine — was the publisher's apprenticeship: the railway industry's publishing from the customer's side. In 2007 the publisher developed the Privatbahn Magazin — the first issue (PriMa) appeared that year — which remains the Bahn-Media Verlag's main product: the modern business magazine of the railway industry. The 2007 founding's timing — the rail liberalisation's maturity, the private railways' growth — gave the magazine its market: the "Privatbahnen" as the industry's dynamic segment. In 2009 the renaming and change of legal form to Bahn-Media Verlag GmbH & Co. KG took place, along with the development of the career platform Zukunftsbranche Bahn. The monthly job market "Zukunftsbranche Bahn" appears as a supplement to the magazine; the annual career handbook "Zukunftsbranche Bahn: Beruf & Karriere" and the online portal zukunftsbranchebahn.de complete the multimedia package — among the leading career platforms for railway professions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The publisher also founded the Bahn-Media Institut in 2014, publishes the regional magazine Wipperau-Kurier four times a year, and the Europe magazine MONNET at irregular intervals. The magazine's 19th volume year in 2025 documents the title's continuity — the 2007 founding's long run, the Bahn-Media Verlag's flagship enduring.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme is the railway industry's business world. Every two months it presents railway transport companies from passenger and freight transport and reports on the technical, economic and scientific development of rail as a mode of transport. The interviews with decision-makers — the industry's CEOs, the policymakers — are the title's signature. The trend reports cover research, technology, safety, economy, transport policy and logistics. The topics in the publisher's own description: logistics, technology, rail infrastructure, digitalisation, transport policy — with the business-management emphasis that distinguishes PriMa from other industry magazines, prepared specifically for rail. In transport-policy terms the magazine takes a stand for more traffic on rail. The "IM FOKUS" PR supplement (ISSN 1868-4386) carries company presentations — Captrain Deutschland, the WEETS group, evb, ZIGS Xpress. The journalism is the B2B trade press's: the expert, the networked, the industry-advocating — the railway industry's business magazine, from the 2007 first issue to the 19th volume year.

Organization and Ownership

Privatbahn Magazin is published by the Bahn-Media Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Salzwedeler Strasse 5, D-29562 Suhlendorf (managing director: Christian Wiechel-Kramüller). The publishers (Herausgeber): Prof. Dr. Uwe Höft, Dr. Ansgar Burghof and Christian Wiechel-Kramüller (V.i.S.d.P.). The editorial office (from the media data): Dennis Tesch, Ann-Katrin Rohmann; the advertising: Sandra Lindemann (responsible), Anja Schroer; overall management: Tobias Grocholl. An editorial advisory board of railway-industry and transport-policy decision-makers supports the editorial work; The editorial advisory board of railway-industry and transport-policy decision-makers supports the editorial work; its spokesman since the end of 2019: Martin Wischner (board member, Havelländische Eisenbahn AG), his deputy: Stefan Buske — the industry's guidance, the editorial independence's balance. The publisher is a member of the Deutsche Fachpresse, the IVW and the Medienverband der freien Presse (MVFP); membership in the Verband der Güterwagenhalter in Deutschland (VPI) and the Überwachungsgemeinschaft Gleisbau e.V. (ÜGG) includes a subscription to the magazine. Note: the outlet row lists Hamburg as city, but the publisher's verified seat is Suhlendorf (Lower Saxony) — the Bahn-Media Verlag's home since the 2003 founding.

Digital Presence

The magazine's portal is privatbahn-magazin.de — the current information medium of the railway industry, platform for discussions, source of ideas and knowledge producer. The English-language digital edition European-Rail Markets (PriMa European-Rail Markets) serves the international railway market as an e-paper (PDF). The publisher's site bahn-media.com carries the media data (No. 19, valid from October 2024). The career platform zukunftsbranchebahn.de extends the brand into the job market — the monthly supplements, the annual handbook, the workshops, the university cooperations. In the German railway trade-press landscape Privatbahn Magazin occupies the business-magazine pole: the 2007-founded title — the Bahn-Media Verlag's flagship, the editorial advisory board, the English e-paper — on privatbahn-magazin.de, the railway industry's business magazine, every two months since 2007, pro-rail always, business-focused forever, Suhlendorf-based proudly, rail-advocating daily. The business-magazine positioning — the betriebswirtschaftliche emphasis against the technical journals — is the title's differentiation: the railway's economy, not just its engineering. The editorial advisory board — the industry's decision-makers accompanying the editorial work — is the title's network: the Wischner chairmanship, the Buske deputyship. The English e-paper — the European-Rail Markets since 2009 — is the title's internationalisation: the German railway's export medium.