Who is Britain’s greatest railway engineer? Ask that question and you’ll probably hear the same names. George Stephenson. Robert Stephenson. Isambard Kingdom Brunel. You’re also likely to hear mention of Sir Nigel Gresley, William Stanier, and Oliver Bulleid. The achievements of these individuals, and many more like them, have become part of railway folklore with their locomotives, bridges, and tunnels celebrated as monuments to British engineering.
However, history has a habit of simplifying greatness. It remembers the names, but often forgets the thousands of engineers whose ideas, calculations, and innovations have quietly transformed the railway alongside them. That remains true today.
Modern railway engineers are no longer driving tunnels through hillsides with pickaxes or designing ever larger steam locomotives. Instead, they are delivering something every bit as significant: a railway that is safer, greener, more connected, and increasingly digital. They are introducing ETCS signalling, preparing for FRMCS communications, designing intelligent infrastructure, improving cybersecurity, and helping the industry achieve net zero. The challenges have evolved significantly, but the ingenuity required has not.
It is this spirit of innovation that the Rail Engineer of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious accolades presented at the RailStaff Awards, seeks to recognise. The award celebrates the exceptional expertise, vision, and leadership of the individuals whose work underpins Britain’s railway and drives it confidently into the future.
Shaping the railway
Great Britain’s railways were built by engineers willing to challenge accepted thinking.
George Stephenson proved that railways could become the backbone of a modern transport system. His son Robert expanded that vision with his ‘Rocket’, which was the design template for future steam locomotives, while Brunel refused to accept that existing methods represented the limits of what was possible.
William Henry Barlow created the magnificent St Pancras train shed, one of Victorian Britain’s greatest engineering achievements. John Fowler and Benjamin Baker designed the Forth Bridge, still carrying trains almost 140 years after it opened and as much a symbol of engineering confidence today as it was in 1890.
Elsewhere, John Saxby’s development of mechanical interlocking fundamentally changed railway safety, demonstrating that engineering excellence is not always measured by size or spectacle. Sometimes, the greatest achievements are those that quietly prevent accidents before they happen.
The same can be said of Britain’s legendary locomotive engineers. George Jackson Churchward introduced standardisation and engineering discipline that influenced locomotive design around the world. Gresley’s A4 Pacifics pushed the boundaries of steam performance. Stanier and Bulleid each developed locomotives that balanced power, efficiency, and reliability in different ways. Every one of these engineers solved the defining challenges of their generation.
Today’s pioneers
The railway of 2026 looks very different.
Today’s engineers are integrating complex software with century-old infrastructure. They are designing signalling systems that allow trains to run closer together without compromising safety. They are developing battery and hydrogen traction, delivering electrification programmes, and making better use of data than ever before.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to support asset inspection. Digital twins are allowing infrastructure to be modelled before engineers ever set foot on site. Remote condition monitoring is predicting failures before passengers notice a problem, and cloud computing has become just as important as concrete, steel, and signalling cables.
Much of this work goes unnoticed by passengers. When everything works, trains simply arrive.
That is perhaps the greatest compliment an engineer can receive.
The Rail Engineer of the Year Award perfectly illustrates how engineering excellence continues to evolve. In 2025, the award was presented to Mark Walsh of Hitachi Rail in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the modernisation of the UK’s digital rail infrastructure.
As lead engineer on the National Rail Enquiries Management project, Mark has played a pivotal role in transforming complex legacy systems into robust, scalable, cloud-native platforms capable of processing more than 2.5 million customer requests every day. It is the type of project that passengers barely notice but would quickly miss if it failed.
Replacing ageing operational systems while maintaining uninterrupted service demands technical excellence, meticulous planning, and exceptional leadership. Mark’s work has significantly improved reliability and reduced operational costs, while establishing a new benchmark for digital engineering across the rail industry.
Just as importantly, the project demonstrates how engineering is increasingly about integrating disciplines. Software development, cloud architecture, systems engineering, cybersecurity, and operational resilience now sit alongside more traditional engineering skills to deliver the railway passengers expect.
The tools may have changed since Stephenson’s day, but the objective remains remarkably familiar: solving difficult problems in ways that make the railway better.
Engineering without boundaries
Perhaps the biggest difference between the railway pioneers of the nineteenth century and today’s engineers is that modern engineering rarely happens in isolation. The railway has become an integrated system.
Civil engineers now work alongside signalling specialists. Rolling stock engineers collaborate with software developers. Telecoms experts, cyber specialists, data scientists, and systems engineers combine their expertise to solve increasingly complex challenges.
No single discipline can deliver tomorrow’s railway on its own. Success depends upon collaboration as much as technical ability.
The best engineers not only solve problems themselves – they enable others to do the same. They mentor graduates, challenge established thinking, share knowledge across organisations, and inspire the next generation to push engineering even further. Those qualities are every bit as important as technical excellence.
Nominate today!
Every day, thousands of engineers across Britain’s railway make decisions that improve safety, reliability, sustainability, and performance. Their work may never become as instantly recognisable as the Forth Bridge or the Flying Scotsman, but its impact is no less significant.
Indeed, the future of Britain’s railway depends upon engineers prepared to embrace new technology while maintaining the uncompromising safety culture that has always defined the industry. That is why recognising engineering excellence matters.
The Rail Engineer of the Year Award is not simply about celebrating one outstanding individual. It is about recognising the profession itself and the people whose expertise continues to shape the railway’s future.
So, who deserves to stand alongside our previous winners? Perhaps it is the engineer delivering a transformational signalling renewal. It could be someone pioneering AI-driven asset management or leading an innovative decarbonisation project. Maybe it’s a colleague whose quiet determination has solved a problem that others thought impossible. Whoever they are, now is the time to recognise them.
Britain’s railway has always been built by engineers who looked beyond today’s challenges to create tomorrow’s solutions. The next great railway engineer may never become a household name but their work could define the railway for decades to come.
If you know someone whose expertise, innovation, and leadership are making a lasting difference, nominate them for the RailStaff Awards’ Rail Engineer of the Year Award and help ensure their contribution receives the recognition it deserves.
Follow the QR code to nominate today.
