The Brunel Awards are given to railway companies, to encourage outstanding visual design in railway architecture, graphics, industrial design and art, technical infrastructure and environmental integration, and rolling stock. The name is assigned to them in honour of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...

, founder of the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

, and designer of the giant ship SS Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...

.

History

The Brunel Awards were first awarded in 1985, during the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 presented the inaugural awards, at a ceremony in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England.

Awards	Year	Place	Organiser	Occasion
1st	1985 1985 in rail transport - January events :* January 5 - At ceremonies held in Nenana and Seward, Alaska, ownership of the Alaska Railroad is officially transferred to the U.S...	United Kingdom Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...	British Rail British Rail British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...  (BR)	150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838... .
2nd	1987 1987 in rail transport -January events:* January 4 – Maryland train collision – Amtrak and Conrail trains collide in Maryland, killing 16 people.-February events:* February 2 - The Irish national transport operator Córas Iompair Éireann is split up into subsidiaries, with Iarnród Éireann taking responsibility for the...	Austria Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...	Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)	150 years of rail transport in Austria History of rail transport in Austria The history of rail transport in Austria began with the Reisszug, a private funicular serving the Fortress of Salzburg. Built at the end of the 15th century and first documented in 1515, it is the oldest known funicular in the world, and possibly the oldest existing railway line.In 1837, following... .
3rd	1989 1989 in rail transport -January events:* January 1 - Three railways in Norway are closed: Kragerøbanen, Numedalsbanen and Valdresbanen.-March events:* March 1 - The Abbeville-Grimes Railway begins operations between its namesake cities in Alabama.* March 4 - The Purley station rail crash in Croydon, near London, leaves...	Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...	Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...  (NS)	150 years of rail transport in the Netherlands History of rail transport in the Netherlands The history of rail transport in the Netherlands is generally considered to have begun on September 20, 1839 when the first train, drawn by De Arend successfully made the 16 km trip from Amsterdam to Haarlem... .
4th	1992 1992 in rail transport -March Events:*March 3 - The Podsosenka train disaster near Nelidovo, Tver Oblast in Russia kills 43.-April events:* April 3 - The Goderich Exeter Railway begins operations in Ontario, Canada....	Spain Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...	RENFE RENFE Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...	50th anniversary of RENFE, opening of the LGV Madrid-Seville High-speed rail in Spain The high-speed railway network in Spain currently consists of four dedicated passenger train main lines, in Spain named L.A.V. abbreviation for linea de alta velocidad... , Expo 92 and Summer Olympic Games, 1992 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same... .
5th	1994 1994 in rail transport -January events:* January 1 - Rail Management Corporation takes over operations of the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad.* January 1 - Railroad Services, Inc...	United States Washington DC	FoRTE	Foundation for Railway and Transportation Excellence.
6th	1996 1996 in rail transport -January events:* January 6 - A computer-controlled Washington Metro train overruns the platform at the Shady Grove station, colliding with a parked train and fatally injuring the operator.-February events:...	Denmark Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...	Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
7th	1998 1998 in rail transport -February events:* February 14 – Yaounde train explosion – A freight train passing through Yaounde, Cameroon, collides with another freight; some tank cars carrying fuel oil are ruptured in the derailment...	Spain Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...	RENFE RENFE Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...	150 years of rail transport in Spain History of rail transport in Spain Rail transport in Spain operates on four rail gauges and services are operated by a variety of private and public operators. The total route length in 2008 was 15,288 km :... .
8th	2001 2001 in rail transport -January events:* January 17 – Groundbreaking ceremonies are held for the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota.* January 27 – The Gerogery level crossing accident occurred in Gerogery, New South Wales, Australia and killed five people in a car....	Early Modern France Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	SNCF	Entry into service of the LGV Méditerranée LGV Méditerranée The LGV Méditerranée is a French high speed railway line of approximately 250 km length, which entered service in June, 2001. Running between Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence and Marseille, it connects the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon to the LGV Rhône-Alpes, and from... .
9th	2005 2005 in rail transport - January events : January 6 – Graniteville train disaster – A Norfolk Southern train carrying a few carloads of hazardous materials collides with a parked train in Graniteville, South Carolina, causing the deaths of 9 people and the injury of over 250 more...	Denmark Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...	Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
10th	2008 2008 in rail transport - February events :* February 27** – Official opening of Santo Domingo Metro.** – National Express Group changes the name of the railway operating company one to National Express East Anglia as part of a company-wide rebranding exercise....	Austria Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...	Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)
11th	2011 2011 in rail transport - January events :* 10 January – Regular through passenger service from Wuhan to Wanzhou over the complete new Yiwan Railway in China starts...	United States Washington DC	Center for Industrial Design in Transportation, Inc.

Categories

Beginning with the 2011 award ceremony, there have been five categories of award; the third category is new.

• Category 1 : rail stations
  Train station
  A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
  
  
• Category 2 : technical infrastructure
• Category 3 : Freight
  Freight train
  A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
  
   and railroad support buildings
• Category 4 : industrial design, corporate branding, graphics, furnishing
• Category 5 : rolling stock
  Rolling stock
  Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
  
  

External links

• The Watford Group website, Brunel Awards page
• The ninth Brunel Awards (2005
  2005 in rail transport
  - January events : January 6 – Graniteville train disaster – A Norfolk Southern train carrying a few carloads of hazardous materials collides with a parked train in Graniteville, South Carolina, causing the deaths of 9 people and the injury of over 250 more...
  
  ) on the website of the organiser, the DSB.
• The tenth Brunel Awards (2008
  2008 in rail transport
  - February events :* February 27** – Official opening of Santo Domingo Metro.** – National Express Group changes the name of the railway operating company one to National Express East Anglia as part of a company-wide rebranding exercise....
  
  ) on the website of the organiser the ÖBB.