Two hundred years after the first modern railway train ran in Britain, our railway is marking the moment with the launch of a new national timepiece.
The clock created by WPP brand design agency Design Bridge and Partners’, was the result of an international competition run by Network Rail in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Design Museum.
Based around a digital design that has been rolled out across suitable station information screens, Rail Clock has also been installed as a 1.8 metre diameter physical clock at London Bridge.
Not only does the clock reflect the history of the railway and the iconic double-arrow created by Gerry Barney, it also features numerals from Margaret Calvert’s Rail Alphabet 2, carefully adapted to make the time easy to read from across a crowded station.
The double arrows start as we know and love them before separating and making their way around the face of the clock every minute. Then, every twelve hours, the completed arrow takes a journey around the face.
Rail Clock takes its place at the heart of the railway just as the industry begins a new journey back together as one organisation.
Network Rail’s head of buildings and architecture, Anthony Dewar, said: “Two hundred years after the first railway opened in Britain, we’re about to embark on a new journey as a railway, putting passengers first. Part of that journey will be giving everyone the same positive experience across all parts of the network, and design is central to that.
“A clock is the first thing people look for when they arrive at a station. The railway is driven by time, being ‘on time’ is our promise to passengers, and clocks have always provided landmarks for people to meet at and use to navigate their way around stations. This design provides a proud and eye-catching centrepiece and acts as a brilliant reminder of the new journey we’re about to undertake together.”
Mark Wood, Creative Partner, Design Bridge and Partners, said: “We are incredibly proud to have won the ‘Timepiece for the Railway’ competition. Our partnership with Network Rail, RIBA and the Design Museum has been highly collaborative, and seeing Rail Clock come to life is immensely rewarding. Our ambition was to create a new icon of British design that creates lasting impact, and we hope Rail Clock becomes the face of time across the railway for many years to come.”
London Bridge is the perfect location to launch the physical clock as it was home to only the second electrically-controlled railway clock in the world, installed in 1852, linked to a master clock at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The 1.8m diameter physical clock unveiled on the 16th October 2025 at London Bridge is the station’s first major timepiece since it was rebuilt in 2018 and is a proud link to the past.
