The theme is ‘Write on Track’ with poems highlighting a positive experience of train travel such as your first rail journey or a memorable trip or an exciting day out.
The poem should be about people and places rather than locomotives. It can be in any format: you might choose a haiku, limerick or acrostic (first letters of each line spell out a word).
Poems should be relatively short as they will be printed for display – aim for about 15-20 lines at most.
You might be inspired by the stories of people and places with connections to the railways in the South East in our 200 ‘blue plaques’.
2025 marks 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened in 1825 which is regarded as the start of train travel as we know it today. Your poem can be set in any era.
Entries must be submitted using this online form.
The closing date for the competition is 23:59 on Friday 31 October 2025.
There are two categories: under-18s and over-18s. There will be one overall winner and two runners-up in each section.
The winning poems will be displayed in an exhibition in the waiting room at Rye railway station so bear in mind the text will need to fit into a poster frame sized 635mm x 1000mm.