The top 20 UK railway artworks are unveiled today – on World Art Day – as voting opens for the outright winner!
The shortlist includes works by J. M. W. Turner, Terence Cuneo and Eric Ravilious. Votes have already been cast from the UK and overseas, including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway
1844
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) 
Collections from Scotland, England and Wales are represented in the top 20. Voting for the world's favourite UK railway artwork closes at midnight on 1st June 2025.
The 20 best-loved railway artworks in the UK were unveiled today (15th April, World Art Day) following a global vote held as part of a celebration of 200 years of the modern railway. Art lovers and rail enthusiasts will now choose an outright winner to be announced on 9th June, the birthday of rail pioneer George Stephenson.
Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971) 
Famous works by J. M. W. Turner and Eric Ravilious are included in the final 20, along with six works by renowned railway painter Terence Cuneo and two by Norman Wilkinson, whose paintings featured in popular travel posters. The shortlist includes artworks by 14 artists, including the women Anna Todd, Ann Emily Carr and Grace Lydia Golden.
A total of 3,790 votes were cast, with UK voters joined by participants from overseas including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They selected from a longlist of 200 artworks compiled by Art UK, the online home of the UK's national art collection, as part of a partnership with Railway 200, rail's bicentenary campaign to celebrate a British invention that changed the world.
Clapham Junction
(British Railways poster artwork) 1961
Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996) 
The shortlisted railway artworks are drawn from 11 public collections across Scotland, England and Wales including the National Railway Museum, Hopetown Darlington and The Postal Museum. The vote highlights the breadth of organisations that hold public artworks, ranging from The National Gallery and Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums to Cardiff & Vale University Health Board and Royal Holloway, University of London.
Talyllyn Railway on the Dolgoch Viaduct
1967
Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996) 
Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross said: 'For two centuries, our railways have carried passengers and freight as well as inspiring artistic creativity across Britain. This remarkable collection showcases how deeply trains are woven into our cultural fabric. I'm delighted to see such diversity in the shortlist and encourage everyone to celebrate this bicentenary by viewing these wonderful artworks and voting for their favourite.'
The Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 1825
1949
Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996) 
Andrew Ellis, Chief Executive of Art UK, said: 'There are so many terrific artworks of trains and the railway in the UK national collection and on Art UK. This first public vote has narrowed this down to 20 artworks from which a winner must now be chosen. Given the shortlist, this will be quite a challenge, and I cannot wait to see which one is chosen as the 'world's favourite UK railway artwork'!'
The Erecting Shop of the North British Locomotive Company's Hyde Park Works, Glasgow
1924
Ralph Gordon Tetley (1910–1985) 
Alan Hyde from Railway 200 said: 'The railway has always been a source of inspiration for artists, helping to enrich our cultural lives. We hope that, in rail's bicentenary year, art lovers will travel by train to enjoy the best of railway-inspired art at first hand and help to choose the nation's favourite.'
Barber (active c.1950–1961) 
Anyone can register to vote at railway200.artuk.org and the poll will close at midnight on Sunday 1st June. Art UK is also hosting online exhibitions of both the shortlist and longlist or artworks.
Train Crossing Monsal Dale Viaduct
(London, Midland and Scottish Railway poster artwork)
Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971) 
Railway 200 commemorates the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825 when George Stephenson drove Locomotion No.1 a distance of 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton in the North East of England. As part of Railway 200, this historic event is also being celebrated with a nine-month international festival known as S&DR200.
For media enquiries and images, please contact Gemma Briggs, Director of Marketing & Communications, Art UK on gemma.briggs@artuk.org
Vote now at railway200.artuk.org
The 20 shortlisted artworks (in alphabetical order)
A Diesel Train on the Shore of Bassenthwaite Lake, near Keswick, Cumberland by Barber (active c.1950–1961), National Railway Museum
Blue Train at Bowling Harbour, 1965, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Glasgow Life Museums
By Rail to Wales, by Frank Wootton (1911–1998), National Railway Museum
By Rail to Wales
(British Railways poster artwork)
Frank Wootton (1911–1998) 
Clapham Junction, 1961, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
'Crimson Rambler', 1992, by Philip D. Hawkins (b.1947), The Postal Museum
Euston Station: Loading the Travelling Post Office, 1948, by Grace Lydia Golden (1904–1993), The Postal Museum
Euston Station: Loading the Travelling Post Office
1948
Grace Lydia Golden (1904–1993) 
'Mallard', 1980s, by Ann Emily Carr (b.1929), Hopetown Darlington
Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844, by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), The National Gallery, London
Service by Night, 1955, by David Shepherd (1931–2017), National Railway Museum
Service by Night
(British Railways poster artwork) 1955
David Shepherd (1931–2017) 
Talyllyn Railway on the Dolgoch Viaduct, 1967, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
The 'Coronation Scot' Ascending Shap Fell, Cumbria, 1937, by Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971), National Railway Museum
The Day Begins, 1946, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
The Day Begins
(British Railways poster artwork) 1946
Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996) 
The Erecting Shop of the North British Locomotive Company's Hyde Park Works, Glasgow, 1924, by Ralph Gordon Tetley (1910–1985), National Railway Museum
The Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 1825, 1949, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
The Railway Station, 1862, William Powell Frith (1819–1909), Royal Holloway, University of London
The Travelling Companions, 1862, by Augustus Leopold Egg (1816–1863), Birmingham Museums Trust
Train Crossing Monsal Dale Viaduct, by Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971), National Railway Museum
Train Landscape, 1940, by Eric Ravilious (1903–1942), Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
View from a Railway Carriage; Beginning of the Carriage, by Anna Todd (b.1964), Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Waterloo Station, 1967, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Science Museum
About Railway 200
Railway 200 is a cross-industry, UK Government-backed, partner-led celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, commemorating the opening by George Stephenson of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the North East of England in 1825, a journey that changed the world forever. It explores the past, present and future of rail, and how it has shaped our lives and livelihoods. Numerous activities and events are planned throughout 2025, many of which are listed at www.railway200.co.uk
As part of Railway 200, there will be a nine-month international festival across Durham and Tees Valley presenting a series of free large-scale outdoor spectacles, events, exhibitions and new art commissions from March to November 2025.
