Entrants to the competition were asked to reimagine small to medium-sized stations, which make up 80% of all those on Britain’s railway.

More than 200 submissions were received, from designers based in 34 different countries. Five will go through to the next stage:

• ATKINS, London with PRD Ltd
• Miguel Angel Carrasco Arquitetura, Rio de Janeiro
• Pascall+Watson, London
• 7N Architects, Edinburgh
• WORKSHOP Architecture, Toronto

The selected practices will now develop their proposals for final judging in February 2021. At the end of that process, up to three will be chosen to be taken forward for development.

Commenting on the announcement, Anthony Dewar, head of buildings and architecture at Network Rail, said: “At the launch of the competition we were hoping to receive some creative and forward-thinking designs and my fellow judging panellists and I were happily inundated with submissions that met that brief. It was a tough decision to narrow the field down to just a handful to go through to the next stage, but we were particularly impressed and intrigued by the concept proposals put forward by the selected five practices.

“We look forward to seeing how they will develop their ideas to create design solutions which will help Network Rail to improve the experience of both the communities and passengers it serves.”

Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It’s fantastic to see from the sheer amount of entries to this competition - and from more than 30 countries – that this challenge has really captured the imagination of designers from right across the globe.

“Harnessing creativity and ambition through competitions like this will ensure the great spirit of design that can be seen in stations right across the country continues. I look forward to seeing these proposals as they progress, as part of our focus on delivering better journeys for passengers.”