La Vie du Rail (English: Railway Life) is a French publishing group headquartered in Auray, which specialises in magazines and books about rail transport, and transport more generally. The editor-in-chief is Vincent Lalu.

La Vie du Rail
StatusActive
Founded1952 (1952)
FounderSNCF
Country of origin France
Headquarters locationAuray, Brittany
Publication typesLa Vie du Rail magazine
Ville, rail & transports
Rail Passion
Nonfiction topicsRail transport
Official websitewww.vdr-multimedia.com

It was started in 1952 as an in-house publication of the SNCF, taking over the role played by Notre Métier ("Our trade") since 1938. In 1965 it became a weekly paid-for magazine independent of the SNCF, which retains a minority share in the company. The name then passed to the special-interest publishing house.

Titles

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Since 2002, so as to diversify its customer base, la Vie du Rail has split its coverage and publishes:

  • La Vie du Rail magazine, generalist weekly centring on rail transport with an average circulation of over 100,000.
  • Ville, rail & transports ("Town, rail & transport"): Initially weekly and titled Rail & Transport, it was then published every two weeks as Ville & transports magazine. In 2009 it merged with La Vie du rail international.[Note 1] It is aimed at those working in the transport sector.
  • Historail, quarterly, specialising in rail history.
  • Rail Passion, approximately 100-page monthly with an average circulation of 40,000 copies.

Commercial structure

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Shares in the company are split between:

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ First issue after the merger: Ville, rail & transports 469, 8 April 2009.
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