Brunel Awards Catalogue

To commemorate 200 years of modern railways, Network Rail hosted the prestigious Brunel Award International Railway Design Competition.

The Award showcases excellence in heavy railway architecture, engineering, landscaping, product design, locomotive and carriage design, graphic arts, and overall design quality across the world’s railways. The aim of the Brunel Awards is to promote the aesthetic quality of the railway environment, civil engineering, stations and other facilities, as well as their equipment, rolling stock, graphic design, corporate identity and uniforms, and to encourage good design in all railway activities.

The competition is held every two to three years, with UIC (International Union of Railways) and the Watford Group playing a key role in its organisation.

For the 2025 Brunel Awards, entries could be submitted in four categories. This year, we received over 120 entries from 30 countries. Entries were open only to public or private heavy rail companies that own or operate common carrier rail services, or to public or private heavy rail infrastructure owners or operators.

Projects entered must have been completed after 1 January 2015 and before 31 May 2025.

Twenty Awards across all categories were conferred. In addition, the Jury issued 17 Commendations to entries that demonstrated high-quality design.

The Jury also awarded a “Jury Prize for Overall Design Excellence” to the railway organisation that best demonstrated a holistic approach to design, as evidenced by multiple submissions across most or all competition categories.