Bicentennial anniversary

2025 marks a huge milestone for rail. On 27 September 2025, it’ll be the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, which revolutionized travel, transport and the world.

This anniversary commemorates the original 26-mile train journey that Locomotion No. 1 took in 1825, the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). Learn all about Railway 200’s exciting events you can take part in, to explore the fascinating history, present, and promising future of rail.

Introducing Railway 200

Railway 200 is a year-long nationwide campaign to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway. Throughout 2025, across the UK and beyond, the rich and varied events and activities taking place through partner-led organisation, aim to inspire promising younger generations from all backgrounds to choose a career in rail. The campaign also hopes to encourage more people to volunteer at heritage sites.

It focuses on 4 key themes:

skills & education
innovation, technology & environment
heritage, culture & tourism
celebrating railway people

From travelling exhibitions to storytelling on train journeys, there’s something for everyone to enjoy

Whether you’re a history buff, a keen events planner, an avid walker, want to find community, or love hearing stories, Railway 200 has something for all.

Take a look at their map of events and activities to find out what’s happening near you or visit railway200.co.uk to see the full programme of events. If you’re thinking of hosting your own event, you can add it to the interactive map on the Railway 200 website, so that other like-minded people can attend.

Like Railway 200, Railpen, your Scheme’s investment and administration manager, is built on heritage

Your Scheme administrator joins industry partners in celebrating this remarkable bicentennial feat of industry and evolution. Railpen has a deep rooted passion for the rail industry and the financial future of its workers, so much so, that its name was built around it.

Starting in 1965 as a pensions office for the British Rail pension scheme, for 50 years, your pension Scheme’s administrator has been helping every day, hardworking people in the rail industry save for their retirement. This has been and continues to be a privilege. Railpen is proud to support initiatives that help to showcase the incredible impact the railway has had on people’s lives, the people who contribute to them and how this continues to shape national life.

Today, Railpen is responsible for over £34bn in assets on behalf of over 350,000 members of the railways pension schemes, providing market-leading pension administration and investment services. As well as many other benefits afforded to rail workers, saving into a great pension is a great perk of working in rail. Many people have whole railway families, who remember what rail was like 100 years ago, and how much it has changed over the years.

30 years of the RPS

You may have already read that the RPS had a significant birthday recently. In October 2024, we celebrated the 30^th anniversary of the RPS. Following the privatisation of the railways in 1994, for the past 3 decades, we’ve been delighted to support members at various stages of their pension journeys, and to help to secure their futures, by investing contributions responsibly and sustainably.

We asked some of the Scheme’s members to share their experiences with the RPS. You can read all about these, and the RPS’ important role in rail and pensions, by visiting our 30^th anniversary webpage.

From then to now

As the railway continues to rapidly evolve and becomes more digitally-driven, there will be myriad new skills learned and new careers created for people from all backgrounds, that will help to contribute to a more sustainable future for us all.

While the RPS and Railpen are built on heritage, we too are focused on the future. Our collective purpose is to secure our members future while also having a positive impact on the world they will retire into. You can find out about the future of rail and dive into major developments, such as the HS2 project, by visiting railway200.co.uk/future-of-rail.

If you’d like to read about our approach to creating a sustainable future - known as Sustainable Ownership - visit member.railwayspensions.co.uk/knowledge-hub/investments/sustainable-ownership.

S&DR200

As the birthplace of the railway, Darlington, Durham, Stockton-on-Tees and Tees Valley Combined Authority councils have come together to deliver this nine month festival, with a range of local, national, and international partners. You can learn more about their involvement by visiting S&DR200.

We hope this year inspires you to learn new skills and have some interesting experiences, in the fascinating world of rail.

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