Calling all budding poets. Here’s your chance to be part of a railway milestone and have your work seen by passengers.
Rye Harbour Writers and Southeast Communities Rail Partnership are running a poetry competition highlighting a positive experience of train travel such as a 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 such as a haiku, limerick or acrostic. Poems can be set in any era.
There are two categories: under-18s and over-18s. Closing date for entries is Friday 31 October 2025.
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 in the new year. Poems should be relatively short because they will be printed for display – entrants should aim for about 15-20 lines at most.
Writer S C Morgan from Rye Harbour Writers said: “What better way for people to express their love of railways than in the form of poetry. We look forward to receiving and reading entries from young and old.”
The ‘Write on Track’ competition has been funded by Southern Railway as part of the celebrations to mark 200 years of the modern railways since the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened in 1825.
Poems from the Rye Harbour Writers on various themes have been displayed at Rye station over the last three years. These poems have now been collated and printed in a special book with funding from Southern as part of its Railway 200 contribution.
Full details, terms and conditions and the online entry form are at: https://www.southeastcrp.org/write-on-track/
