Institution news
On their 10th anniversary of participating in the Railway Challenge, this is the first time the team from University of Sheffield have won the competition and what a way to do it, earning their highest score point ever!
Coming in at second were the Derby & Alstom team with the PUTrain team from Poznań University of Technology, defending champions from 2023's competition, taking third place overall.
The 2024 competition saw three teams enter the Entry Level category which included for the first time a team from outside Europe taking part - TeamTRAK from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Joining them were Heriot-Watt University and Siemens Mobility Limited. They submited designs of their proposed locomotives which had to follow all the rules of the main competition as well as a CAD model to demonstrate the overall structure of their locomotive and a more detailed design of one chosen sub-system, in addition to competing in all of the other presentation challenges (Business Case, Technical Poster, Innovation and Design).
Congratulations to Siemens Mobility team who are the first ever overall winners of Railway Challenge 2024 Entry Level competition as well as the HW-Rail team from Heriot-Watt University, who won the CAD award in the Entry Level competition.
The Entry Level category is open for teams from institutions which have not previously participated in the competition with the intention that this provides teams with a stepping stone towards a full entry to design as well as construct a locomotive in a future year.
There were also four new track-based challenges this year which teams can choose to participate in. These included an ‘Autocoupler challenge’ in which teams need to demonstrate that their locomotive can couple up to a coach, move it and uncouple from it without driver intervention.
On 2024's event, Organising Committee Chair Prof. Simon Iwnicki notes that: "The Railway Challenge provides a unique experience to all the teams as they tackle the various issues relating to the design and operation of a locomotive in a real-world environment. Not least are the challenges of managing a team making critical decisions and the Railway Challenge provides a fantastic learning experience which the participants will take with them into their careers."
Well done to all of the teams who took part in the 2024 Railway Challenge and thank you to our sponsors Angel Trains, AtkinsRéalis, CAF and RSSB, our supporter Network Rail as well as the Pamela and David Rollin Foundation.
The full list of Railway Challenge 2024 competition category winners are listed as follows in addition to the overall results including track and non-track challenges:
Entry Level overall winner:
Overall result including track and non-track challenges
- Grand Champion: The University of Sheffield
- Runner-up: University of Derby & Alstom
- Third place: Poznań University of Technology
Track-based challenge results
- Maintainability: Poznań University of Technology
- Autocoupler: The University of Sheffield
- Location Announcement: The University of Sheffield
- Aerodynamic Drag: Poznań University of Technology
- Remote Data Recording: The University of Sheffield
- Traction: University of Derby & Alstom
- Ride Comfort: University of Derby & Alstom
- Energy Storage: University of Derby & Alstom
- Auto-Stop: The University of Sheffield
- Reliability: University of Derby & Alstom, The University of Sheffield (joint winners)
Non-track challenge results
- Business Case: Transport for London
- CAD: Heriot-Watt University
- Technical Poster: Transport for London
- Innovation: The University of Sheffield
- Design: Transport for London