Young engineers from Germany’s Aachen University of Applied Sciences won the Railway Challenge 2019, beating teams from the UK and Poland in the competition, which took place at the end of June at Stapleford Miniature Railway in Leicestershire.

The runner-up was the team from Transport for London, while Ricardo Rail took third spot.

The competition, which is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Railway Division (www.imeche.org), challenges participants to design and build a locomotive, “using their creativity and technical skills to apply the latest railway technology”.

The competition is in its eighth year and is growing in popularity, with a record 14 teams of students and apprentices taking part in the 2019 event.

This year, they were tasked with — among other things — building an emergency automatic braking mechanism into their locomotives.

Bill Reeve, head judge of the Railway Challenge (and Director of Rail at Transport Scotland), said: “When I come to this event, I see enthusiastic teams learning — in a short period — a huge amount about the realities of engineering projects.

“I also see real innovation in engineering design tested here in a low-risk environment.”

On the way to becoming Grand Champion, Aachen University of Applied Sciences won the ‘auto stop’, ‘ride comfort’ and ‘energy’ categories.

A special award for ingenuity and elegance in mechanical design was presented to PUTrain University of Poznan.

The Railway Challenge is supported by Angel Trains, Beacon Rail Leasing, Network Rail, the Rail Safety and Standards Board and the Young Rail Professionals Group.