The annual Global Light Rail Awards took place in London on 7th October 2026 with the great and good of the sector meeting to find out who were being recognised for their efforts over the past 12 months. Winners were announced from many UK tramways with London Trams amongst them as they were named UK Operator of the Year.
Won for the last two years by KeolisAmey Metrolink (which have been the only years when there has been a UK category, previous to that it was worldwide although UK systems did win before), the UK Tram Operator of the Year award (sponsored by UKTram) in 2026 went to London Trams & First Tram Operations. West Midlands Metro were highly commended in the same category.
The Most Improved System went to Keolis-MHI Rail Sight (operators of the Dubai Metro) but the highly commended in that category was back in the UK with South Yorkshire Supertram recognised.
Other UK winners on the night included South Yorkshire Supertram: Customer engagement in the Richard Brown Best Customer Initiative Award (which saw KeolisAmey Metrolink and Blackpool Transport highly commended), VolkerRail, Sika, AtkinsRealis and London Trams: Introducing the Advanced Polymer Rail Encapsulation system to the UK tramway industry in Technical Innovation of the Year, Nottingham Trams: Krause & Hall in Supplier of the Year, KeolisAmeyDocklands for the transformation of Cutty Sark station as major project of the year and the Outstanding Engineering Achievement was Nexus for the SCADA replacement project.
Its not just about organisations on the night though as individuals are also recognised. Matthew Britain from the West Midlands Metro was named as Employee of the Year for his work on the introduction of the Buy Before You Board ticketing system.
Alex Wray from South Yorkshire Supertram and Janete Gava from Nottingham Trams were also named as joint Rising Stars.
Meanwhile, West Midlands Metro Managing Director, Sophie Allison was a joint recipient of the Geoffrey Claydon Judges’s Special Award. The other winner of this award was Jim Harries, the former Metrolink Engineering Manager.
Sophie Allison commented: “This award came as a huge surprise for me personally, but it really reflects the hard work and dedication of the entire Metro team. The fact that Matthew also won the Employee of the Year title reflects the wealth of talent we have here in the West Midlands.”
- Full details of winners on the night can be seen at https://www.mainspring.co.uk/products/events/global-light-rail-awards-2026/