TEAM REGISTRATION

Registration for the Railway Challenge 2026 Challenge is now open; scroll down this page to complete the team registration form.

To find out more about the rules, technical specification and guidance, you can visit the Team Resource page.

HOW TO REGISTER

Registrations are accepted on a first come, first serve basis, and there are 14 places available.

Notice for mixed Graduates/Apprentices teams:
Those who are unable to form a team are encouraged to enter. Contact us at railwaychallenge@imeche.org to help facilitate joint team entries, and a reduced fee to be considered for participation in specific challenges.

To register your team, simply complete the registration form below, pay your team registration fee and provide details of the members of your team.

Please ensure that you have all of your team information to hand before you begin filling in the form as there is no option to save and return.

You will need details about your organisation as well as all of the team participants. This information will need to include their degree title and current year of study.

You will also need payment information at the end of the form. You may pay by credit or debit card (including Visa, Mastercard & American Express), or request an invoice on behalf of your organisation. For the latter you will need to provide a Purchase Order (PO) number on the form.

REGISTRATION FEES FOR RAILWAY CHALLENGE 2026 TEAMS

Team Entry Fee:  £850 + VAT £170 = £1,020 total
Entry Level Option Fee (scroll down this page for more information): £555 + VAT £111 = £666 total

The above fees allows for up to 15 team members to attend demonstration event at Stapleford Miniature Railway. If you would like to register any additional team members, a charge of £38 + VAT £7.60 = £45.60 for each additional team member will be incurred. To enquire about paying for any additional team members to attend, please email us at railwaychallenge@imeche.org

ENTRY LEVEL OPTION

We are offering an ‘Entry Level’ option for the Railway Challenge. This is only open for teams from institutions which have not previously participated in the competition.

Teams taking the Entry Level option are not required to manufacture a locomotive being only required to submit a design of their proposed loco. The design must follow all rules of the main competition but Entry Level teams must also submit a CAD model to demonstrate the overall structure of their locomotive and also a more detailed design of one chosen sub-system. Entry Level teams are still expected to compete in all the other presentation challenges.

The designs will be assessed by the judges and a trophy will be awarded to the best Entry Level challenge team at the final ceremony of the Railway Challenge weekend.

The intention is that this provides teams with a stepping stone towards a full entry in a future year, where it may seem too daunting to both design and construct a locomotive within a single year.