Railway Challenge registration closed with a record-breaking number of teams on board for the 2020 competition

The Railway Challenge gets on track with a record-breaking 15 teams of undergraduates, recent graduates and apprentices in industry, from UK and overseas who are vying to win the coveted Railway Challenge Grand Champion title in 2020.

The Railway Challenge gets on track with a record-breaking 15 teams of undergraduates, recent graduates and apprentices in industry, from UK and overseas who are vying to win the coveted Railway Challenge Grand Champion title in 2020.&

The competition welcomes a number of new entrants, which include teams from Newcastle University, Queen Mary University and Lenz Ltd.&

The Challenge requires teams to design and manufacture a miniature (10¼” gauge) railway locomotive to meet a series of strict technical specifications. The locomotive should aim for high performance in terms of traction, energy storage, acceleration, braking and handling and be sufficiently durable to successfully compete in all the track-based challenges. In addition to the on-track tests, each team will be required to present their design to a large company that is considering the production of a locomotive and tender submissions against other requirements for assessment.

Each design, its associated submissions and presentations will be judged and evaluated against other competing designs to determine the best overall locomotive.

Teams taking part in the 2020 competition

1. FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences and Reuschling
2. Bombardier Transportation
3. University of Huddersfield 
4. Poznań University of Technology
5. Ricardo Rail
6. Transport for London
7. South Western Railway 
8. Newcastle University
9. University of Birmingham
10. Brunel University (London)
11. Queen Mary University of London
12. The University of Sheffield
13. University of Warwick
14. Network Rail
15. Lenz Ltd

The competition returns to the Stapleford Miniature Railway in Melton Mowbray from 25 to 28 June 2020. Sponsorship and partnership opportunities are available.

Find out more

• About Railway Challenge
• Become a Sponsor
• For further information contact railwaychallenge@imeche.org.