FAQs

The Rail Business Awards recognise excellence in the UK rail industry across technical projects, safety, marketing and customer service plus celebrating the success of individuals and teams who make a difference.

To see the range of categories on offer visit our enter now page by clicking here.

Entries close on Friday 18 October at 23:55 BST 

It is the entrants responsibility to ensure that all entries are completed and fully uploaded to the site by this date. 

All work should be entered using our online entry system.

1. Select the category you wish to enter

(You can select additional categories from the drop down menu in the basket and the clicking the green + button)

2. You will then be redirected to a registration page for new users or login page for returning users

3. You will need to supply the following information for each category you enter:

  • Company name
  • Project name / initiative
  • 50 word summary
  • Written statement (no more than 2500 words)
  • Supporting material (optional)
  • Image that represents the project - this will be used in the awards presentation if shortlisted
  • Company logo - this will be used on the entrants directory page on our website
  • Company website this will be used on the entrants directory page on our website
  • Twitter handle
  • Video link (optional)

It is the entrant's responsibility to ensure that they have (written) permission from any owner of the supporting material they are wishing to upload. 

4. Once all mandatory fields have been answered you can proceed to payment. Here you should complete your companies billing address. 

5. Once completed you will then be asked to select to pay via credit card or invoice. 

Invoices will be emailed directly to the email address assigned to the login credentials. For credit card payments you will be redirected to an online payment page hosted by Paypal. Please note that we are currently unable to accept payments from American Express credit cards.

6. A Confirmation email will be automatically emailed to the address assigned to the login credentials as soon as you complete your order. If this is not received check your junk mail folder and contact info@railbusinessawards.com

Entries are charged at £125 + VAT per entry per category.

Entries can be paid via credit card at the time of submission or you can select to pay by invoice.

Entries must be paid before judging commences in October. If we have not received payment for entries by this date you will be disqualified.

Entries can be paid for by credit card or invoice at the time of submission.

Credit cards:

You will be redirected to DVV Media International's payment page hosted by Paypal.

You do not need to set up a PayPal account, you simply submit credit card details.

Once completed you will receive a receipt from both PayPal and Rail Business Awards. If you do not receive both, please email info@railbusinessawards.com

We do not accept American Express, 

Invoices:

Once you have selected the invoice option you will have the opportunity to input a Purchase Order Number if you have one.

If you have a purchase order number at a later date please email this to creditcontrol@dvvmediainternational.com who will assign this to your invoice and re-issue.

Invoices will be issued at the point of submission and emailed to the address assigned to the login credentials. It is the entrants responsibility to ensure that this is forwarded to their accounts team for payment.

Invoice terms are 30 days.

If you have not received the invoice from info@railbusinessawards.com, please check your junk mail and spam filters.

Categories available to enter are:

People Awards

  • Diversity & Inclusion in Rail Award
  • Education & Training Excellence
  • Industry Leader
  • Rail Team of the Year
  • Richard Hope Award (outstanding personal contribution)
  • Wellbeing in Rail 
  • Young Professional of the Year

Technical & Engineering Awards

  • Infrastructure Project & Station Excellence
  • Innovation of the Year
  • Network Resilience & Maintenance Excellence
  • Supplier & Contractor Excellence 
  • Sustainability & Environmental Excellence 

Operations Awards 

  • Accessibility & Integrated Transport Excellence
  • Marketing & Communications Excellence
  • Rail Freight & Logistics Excellence
  • Regional Initiative of the Year
  • Safety & Security Excellence 
  • Train Operator of the Year

Overall Winner

  • Rail Business of the Year

Your entry statement should be no more than 2500 words.

A high-resolution version of your company logo and a supporting picture should be uploaded at this point of your submission. These will be used in the awards presentation if your entry is shortlisted.

Yes, please press the “Save for Later” button which will then move your incomplete entry into your “Saved Items”. When you are ready to submit you can log back in, go to your saved items tab to make any necessary changes before selecting the “Move to Basket” button which will allow you to complete your transaction.

Yes, as long as it is before the final entry deadline of 23:55BST on 18 October 2024.

If you log back in, your entry will be held under the Awards > Nominations section. You will then be able to select the “edit” button and make necessary changes. Please be sure to press save.

After 23:55BST on 18 October 2024 no further changes can be made. 

You will need to collate all of the documents, photos or PDFs you wish to enter into one folder and convert this to a .zip file.

You can do so by right clicking on the relevant folder, going down on the menu to the “Send to” option and then click Compressed (zipped folder).

The maximum file size we can accept is 5MB per file and 40MB per folder. To reduce the folder size you may wish to convert individual documents within a folder to PDF if appropriate.

Entries will be judged by a distinguished panel of experts drawn from the rail industry selected by Railway Gazette.

Decisions of the judges will be final. No correspondence will be entered into.

If an entry is deemed more appropriate for another category, Rail Business Awards reserve the right to move this without notifying the entrant in advance.

We ask all of our judges to sign a confidentiality agreement before we allow them to begin the judging process and review any entries.

Any confidential or sensitive information included in your entry must be clearly marked.

Winners of the awards will have an overview of their entry published on www.railwaygazette.com. Any information that shouldn’t be included should be clearly marked within your entry.

You will be informed via email if your entry has been shortlisted in late November. 

As a shortlisted company you will also be able to download a finalist logo, e-signature and social media image to promote yourself. 

Winners will be announced on Thursday 20 February, 2025 at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate. 

303 Deansgate,

Manchester,

M3 4LQ

You can purchase your tickets here,