Brunel Award facts for kids

SBB-CFF-FFS class Re 460 locomotive: Brunel Award in 1992.

The Brunel Awards are special prizes given to railway companies. They celebrate the best designs in things like train stations, train looks (called rolling stock), railway art, and how railways fit into the environment. These awards are named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was a famous engineer who started the Great Western Railway and designed the huge ship SS Great Eastern.

History of the Brunel Awards

The Brunel Awards first started in 1985. This was during the 150th birthday celebrations of the Great Western Railway. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom herself gave out the very first awards. The ceremony took place in Bristol, England.

The awards have been held in different cities around the world over the years. They often celebrate important railway milestones.

Awards	Year	Place	Organiser	Occasion
1st	1985	Bristol	British Rail (BR)	150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway.
2nd	1987	Vienna	Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)	150 years of rail transport in Austria.
3rd	1989	Amsterdam	Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)	150 years of rail transport in the Netherlands.
4th	1992	Madrid	RENFE	50th anniversary of RENFE, opening of the LGV Madrid-Seville, Expo 92 and Summer Olympic Games, 1992.
5th	1994	Washington DC	FoRTE	Foundation for Railway and Transportation Excellence.
6th	1996	Copenhagen	Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
7th	1998	Madrid	RENFE	150 years of rail transport in Spain.
8th	2001	Paris	SNCF	Entry into service of the LGV Méditerranée.
9th	2005	Copenhagen	Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
10th	2008	Vienna	Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)
11th	2011	Washington DC	Center for Industrial Design in Transportation, Inc.
12th	2014	Amsterdam	Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), ProRail	125th anniversary of Amsterdam Central Station and 175 years of rail transport in the Netherlands.

Award Categories

Since the 2011 awards, there have been five main categories for the prizes. These categories help to recognize different parts of railway design and operation.

• Category 1: Railway stations – for great design of station buildings and areas.
• Category 2: Technical infrastructure – for the design of things like tracks, bridges, and tunnels.
• Category 3: Freight and railway support buildings – for buildings that help with moving goods or maintaining the railway.
• Category 4: Industrial design, corporate branding, graphics, furnishing – for the look of railway companies, signs, and inside train designs.
• Category 5: Rolling stock – for the design of trains themselves, like locomotives and passenger cars.

See also

• List of architecture prizes