The aim was to help celebrate 200 years of the modern railways in verse.
This was in the form of short poems from a range of contributors setting out a positive experience of the railways or a memorable journey.
Marshlink line officer Paul Bromley helped Rye Harbour Writers apply to train operator GTR for a grant as part of their Railway 200 funding.
GTR provided £1,500 for the group to organise the Write on Track poetry competition.
The competition was launched at Southeast Communities Rail Partnership’s Rail Fair 200 celebration in Lewes on 1 August 2025 (1.8.25) to an audience of rail enthusiasts and community representatives. It ran until 31 October 2025.
There were two categories: over-18s and under-18s. Members of the Rye Harbour Writers judged the entries ‘blind’ meaning they only saw the words without knowing the names of the authors.
They chose an overall winner and runners-up in the two age categories.
The winning poems were printed as posters by GTR and placed in frames in the waiting room at Rye for passengers to enjoy.
The winners and their families attended a special prize-giving ceremony at Rye railway station in January 2026.
The writers were impressed with the quality of the entries, in particular those poems which has an emotional connection to train travel.
The winners and their families all said how delighted they were to see their poems in print and to be invited to the celebration.
The poems stand as a reminder of railways past, present and future.
The writing group has raised its profile within the town of Rye and beyond.
View a video of the awards ceremony here.
Read the over-18s winners here.
Read the under-18s winners here.
“We were really thrilled with the different entries that we had for this competition – such a wide range of different entries … We were particularly excited about the young people getting involved”
“Clearly a lot of work and thought has gone in to the poems and the atmosphere they bring over. It evokes memories of the last 200 years of the railways which the project was designed to do”