NIGEL Harris, Managing Editor and Events Director at RAIL, is to step down.
Having led the magazine for more than 28 years, Nigel will leave the day after the National Rail Awards, which take place on September 14. Nigel has presented every awards ceremony since their launch in 2000.
Nigel said: “It has been the privilege and honour of my professional life to lead the evolution and transformation of RAIL, from the hobbyist/enthusiast gazette of 1995 to the influential magazine you see today, which is widely respected throughout the industry and indeed Government. We have never shirked speaking truth to power.”
RAIL’s National Rail Awards has become known as the railway ‘Oscars’. Regularly attended by up to 1,200 people, it has made reputations and furthered careers for its prize winners, ranging from young professionals to receivers of Lifetime Achievement awards. The Station of the Year is always a hotly contested accolade, with awards displayed prominently in ticket halls across the UK.
As well as RAIL magazine, and its specialist quarterly business journal RailReview, the RAIL stable includes the hugely successful summer trade show Rail Live at Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre, networking event the Rail 100 Breakfast Club, conferences, and a series of well-attended webinars launched during the pandemic.
Nigel has also established a formidable reputation as an industry expert, and he has been summoned several times to give evidence to the Transport Select Committee - the all-party Parliamentary body which scrutinises policy issues relating to the Department for Transport, holding ministers to account.
Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “Through my seven years on the Select Committee, and in my role as Rail Minister, this great man has given the best advice, evidence, and lived experience.”
Other industry leader
