Bridget Eickhoff
British railway engineer
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Bridget Mary Eickhoff CEng FIMechE FREng MBE (born 1956)[1] is a chartered engineer working in the field of railway engineering, within the United Kingdom. As of 2025[update] she was principal infrastructure engineer at the Rail Safety and Standards Board,[2] covering rail transport in Great Britain.
- Principal infrastructure engineer, Rail Safety and Standards Board
- Operational controller, IMechE Railway Challenge
Bridget Eickhoff | |
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| Born | 1956 (age 69–70) |
| Occupations |
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Career
Bridget Eickhoff started studying at New Hall, Cambridge in 1974[3][4] and graduated with a degree in mathematics[5] from the University of Cambridge in 1977. She joined the British Rail Research Division working in engineering.[5] Following the Privatisation of British Rail, Eickhoff continued working for what became AEA Technology, under Cliff Perry.[5] In 2008, she joined the Rail Safety and Standards Board.
During 2012‒2013 Eickhoff was Chair of the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.[5] She acts as operational controller for the IMechE Railway Challenge for university students run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and held at the Stapleford Miniature Railway each year.[6][7]
In November 2016 she led the annual IMechE Young Members Railway Technical Tour to visit railway facilities in Germany,[8] and in 2019 led the Railway Technical Tour on a visit to Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.[9]
Her inaugural lecture at the University of Birmingham was held on 5 December 2018, entitled Minding the gap: how to improve boarding and alighting from trains.[10]
In December 2019, she gave the final Permanent Way Institution London Section talk to be held at 55 Broadway, on the subject of Gauging historic infrastructure for the 21st century.[11]
In April 2022, she gave a talk to the London and South East branch of Railfuture about differing railway platform height across railway lines in Great Britain.[12]
Recognition
A paper by Eickhoff et al. was awarded the George Stephenson Gold Medal by the IMechE in 2016.[13][5][3]
She was awarded the James Clayton Prize by the IMechE in 2017 at the Science Museum, London.[14][15] Herbert Walker Swift, her great-uncle, had previously also won the James Clayton Prize in 1952.[14][16]
During 2019 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[17]
In the 2025 Birthday Honours Eickhoff was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) with a citation of "for services to railway engineering".[18][19][20][2][21][3][4][22]
Personal life
Eickhoff's partner is Felix Schmid, Professor emeritus of railway engineering.[23]
Publications
- 1900s
- Eickhoff, B.M.; Gostling, R.J. (1979). "Curving Tests with Laboratory Coach 1 on the Blaenau Ffestiniog Branch". Technical Note (49). BRB R&D Division.
- Elkins, J.A.; Eickhoff, B.M. (December 1979). Advances in non-linear wheel-rail force prediction methods and their validation. ASME Winter Conference. New York City.
- Clark, R.A.; Eickhoff, B.M.; Hunt, G.A. (September 1981). Wickens, A.H. (ed.). Prediction of the dynamic response of vehicles to lateral track irregularities. 7th IAVSD IUTAM Symposium. Cambridge, UK: Swets & Zeitlinger (published 1982). pp. 535‒548.
- Elkins, J. A.; Eickhoff, B. M. (June 1982). "Advances in non-linear wheel/rail force prediction methods and their validation". Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control. 104 (2): 133–142. doi:10.1115/1.3139688.
- Clark, R.A.; Eickhoff, B.M.; Hunt, G.A. (1983). "Prediction of the dynamic response of vehicles to lateral track irregularities". Technology Memo. TM DA (42). British Rail Research.
- Eickhoff, B. M.; Harvey, R. F. (August 1989). Anderson, R. (ed.). Theoretical and experimental evaluation of independently rotating wheels for railway vehicles. Eleventh IAVSD Symposium on the Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and Tracks. Kingston, Ontario: Swets & Zeitlinger. pp. 190‒202.
- Eickhoff, B.M. (20 June 1990). "Kinematic envelope study for intercity 250 vehicle/track working party". J. Vdyn (188). British Rail Research Division.
InterCity 250 Vehicle/Track working party … calculation of Kinematic Envelopes.
- Eickhoff, B.M. (January 1991). "The Application of Independently Rotating Wheels to Railway Vehicles". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 205 (1). Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 43‒54. doi:10.1243/PIME_PROC_1991_205_215_02.
- Eickhoff, B.M.; Evans, J.R.; Minnis, A.J. (1995). "A review of modelling methods for railway vehicle suspension components". Vehicle System Dynamics. 24 (6‒7). Taylor & Francis: 469‒496. doi:10.1080/00423119508969105.
- Eickhoff, B.M.; Scott, G.A. (1996). "Structure Gauging—Maximizing the Use of Restricted Clearance". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 210 (2). Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 63‒71. doi:10.1243/PIME_PROC_1996_210_329_02.
- Eickhoff, Bridget; Scott, Graham (1996). "Fahrzeug und Gleis als gemeinsames System" [Vehicle and railway track as one system]. Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau (in German). Vol. 45, no. 7/8. pp. 441‒445.
- 2000s
- Eickhoff, B.; Nowell, R. (24 May 2011). Determining the benefit of train mass reduction. 9th World Congress on Railway Research. World Congress on Railway Research. London: Rail Safety and Standards Board.
- Eickhoff, B.M. (2009). "Wheel and Rail Profiles". In Schmid, F. (ed.). Handbook on Best Practice in the Management of the Wheel-Rail Interface on Mixed Traffic Railways. Darlington: A & N Harris. ISBN 978-0-952-9997-3-7.
- Eickhoff, Bridget; Mazzola, Laura; Bezin, Yann; Tucker, Gareth J.; Stradtmann, Hinnerk; Haigermoser, Andreas; Chollet, Hugues; Landais, Jérémy (August 2015). "Track loading limits and cross-acceptance of vehicle approvals". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 229 (6): 710–728. doi:10.1177/0954409715575092. hdl:11311/989573. ISSN 0954-4097 – via University of Huddersfield.
- Eickhoff, Bridget (20 April 2020). Gauging Historic Infrastructure for the 21st Century. Nottingham & Derby Section. Permanent Way Institution.
- Eickhoff, Bridget (30 April 2022). Towards step free journeys: the challenge of platform – train interface (Presentation). London and South East Branch (Report). Railfuture. Retrieved 12 September 2025.