La Vie du Rail explained

Status:	Active
Founder:	SNCF
Country:	France
Headquarters:	Auray, Brittany
Publications:	La Vie du Rail magazine Ville, rail & transports Rail Passion
Topics:	Rail transport
Url:	www.vdr-multimedia.com

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.

It was started in 1952 as an in-house publication of the SNCF, taking over the role played by French: 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

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.
• French: [[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.^[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

Shares in the company are split between:

• Vincent Lalu et Associés, 71%
• SNCF, 10%
• French: Société du personnel de La Vie du Rail, 5%
• Groupe La Vie-Le Monde, 5%
• Groupe Ouest-France, 5%
• Mutuelle d'assurance des artisans de France, 4%.

See also

• List of railroad-related periodicals

External links

• La Vie du Rail, official website
• VDR Multimedia, Publisher's website

Notes and References

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