Below you can find all the winners from the 2022 Excellence Awards which celebrate the greatest achievements and innovations in the industry. The programme provides a platform to recognise the people and companies that are driving change.

Our programme is designed to highlight excellence within the sector by looking at a range of corporate activities including deals, business projects and company initiatives, both internal and in the community.

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You can also download our full Awards & Rankings Report which includes all of this year’s rankings, as well as the awards winners, shortlists and company profiles.

Business Expansion

Business Expansion is one of our largest categories and looks at the core functions of business operations within the sector.

This consists of any projects that have expanded the company’s footprint in the sector, including: contract wins; launching in new territories; launching new product lines; the acquisition and expansion of facilities and real estate; acquisition of new machinery or other assets; improved logistics; partnerships; and significant staff increases.

Wabtec Corporation wins the Business Expansion award as it secured a number of notable contracts including the sale of a battery-electric freight locomotive to CN. CN intends to join forces with Wabtec to use the ‘next generation’ of FLXdrive technology for its first 100% battery heavy-haul freight locomotive.

Shortlist

Environmental

The Environmental category aims to highlight companies that are undertaking projects that reduce their impact on the natural environment or contribute to its general health. With the effects of climate change becoming ever more obvious, corporations have a responsibility to update and change their practices to prevent further damage being caused.

This category includes any projects that have led or will lead to a significant reduction in a company’s environmental impact and carbon footprint. This can include changes to materials and manufacturing, supply chain reviews; reduction in energy use or switches to renewables; recycling initiatives; and carbon offsetting. The category also includes projects that contribute to the environment such as tree planting schemes and river cleaning.

Porterbrook and Rolls-Royce win the Environmental category award due to them entering into a rail decarbonisation partnership. The collaboration will explore the use of synthetic and net zero fuels for rail transport including assessing the potentiality of hydrogen as a clean fuel.

Additionally, Porterbrook and Rolls-Royce will also evaluate the potentiality of advanced hybridisation. The two companies have already worked together to introduce hybrid battery-diesel railcars into passenger service.

Shortlist

Innovation

Innovation is the category with one of the widest scopes within the Excellence Rankings as it looks at novel new approaches in every area, from the fruits of research and development to novel new business practices. What all the ranked entities have in common is the demonstration of new concepts not just within their own business but in the sector as a whole.

The category includes any projects that demonstrate an innovative approach to the market. The category crosses over with many of our other categories and can include new products, novel product features, new business practices, new marketing and sales strategies and more.

General Motors wins the Innovation category award due to its work in engineering and supplying its Ultium battery and Hydrotech hydrogen fuel cell systems to Wabtec freight locomotives. Wabtec Corporation and General Motors have announced they will collaborate to develop and commercialise GM’s Ultium battery technology and hydrogen fuel cell systems for Wabtec locomotives.

The two companies have signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to advance their shared vision of a zero-emissions future in transportation. Wabtec will bring its expertise in energy management and systems optimization to develop a solution for heavy haul locomotives that takes full advantage of GM’s advanced technologies.

Shortlist

Investments

The Investments category looks at any significant financial investments into a company or its assets, specifically those investments that facilitate expansion of a company’s operations. This can be an investment by the company itself into its operations or by an outside investor be that another company, financial institution, private equity or venture capital firm.

Deutsche Bahn wins the Investment category award following its announcement of significant investment to upgrade its rail network. The railway company intends to upgrade and review nearly 1,800km of its network, including 140 bridges and 800 stations, and is planning to enhance the infrastructure with the aim of making it more efficient.

Shortlist

Product Launches

The Product Launches category recognises companies that have launched notable new products or services into the market. This can include physical products, software as well as the launch of services and concepts.

We are specifically looking at novelty, including companies launching products into new areas or innovation in the product’s design, manufacture or marketing.

HUBER+SUHNER and ELTEC ELEKTRONIK win the Product Launches category award due to their work in simplifying on-board wi-fi deployment with a new compact active rail antenna.

Featuring an integrated highly compact Wi-Fi access point from ELTEC, the HUBER+SUHNER SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE In-Carriage antenna can provide multiple access points along the carriage ceiling. This builds on previous systems which have one fixed access point that delivers connectivity to all passengers. Having the radios embedded directly into the antenna also eliminates the need for RF cabling between the access points and antennas, meeting increasing demands for MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) antennas. This gives operators a more compact option that is easy to install and maximises space inside the train carriage.

Shortlist

  • High Speed Two
  • Huawei
  • HUBER+SUHNER
  • Industrial Networks

Research and Development

This category includes organisations that have demonstrated a commitment to the research and development of new products and/or new processes. This can include discovering or creating a unique material, transferring a research or technology development to practice, improving the performance of an existing product or creating a new simulation or design tools.

The category also includes companies that have made significant investments into their R&D processes.

Caltrain wins the Research and Development category award as it successfully concluded its first electric train set trial. This test was conducted to make sure that the train set meets all clearance needs to run safely along the corridor. It is equipped with foam rubber padding to simulate the dynamic envelope. This helped simulate the maximum clearance area of an electric train set as it operated along the corridor at five miles per hour, hauled by a diesel locomotive.

Shortlist

  • Alstom
  • Caltrain
  • Chemet
  • East Midlands Railway
  • Hitachi Rail
  • One Silicon Chip Photonics
  • Siemens
  • Southern California Gas Company
  • Union Pacific Railroad
  • Wabtec Corporation

Safety

The Safety category includes companies and institutions that have demonstrated best practice in health and safety including compliance to standards and any initiatives taken to improve workplace safety through the introduction of new guidelines, policies or equipment.

It also includes projects and initiatives by companies to improve health and safety in other public environments other than their own workspaces.

Thales wins the Safety category award following the deployment of its ERTMS Central Safety System in the Netherlands. Designed to replace analogue with digital, the software-driven CSS will help regulate the security of railways centrally from the data centres of ProRail. The maintainability and scalability of the railway network will be significantly enhanced by using the digital solution, stated Thales.

Shortlist