Bridget Eickhoff


Bridget Mary Eickhoff is a chartered engineer working in the field of railway engineering, within the United Kingdom. she was principal infrastructure engineer at the Rail Safety and Standards Board, covering rail transport in Great Britain.

Career

Bridget Eickhoff started studying at New Hall, Cambridge in 1974 and graduated with a degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1977. She joined the British Rail Research Division working in engineering. Following the Privatisation of British Rail, Eickhoff continued working for what became AEA Technology, under Cliff Perry. 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.
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.
In November 2016 she led the annual IMechE Young Members Railway Technical Tour to visit railway facilities in Germany, and in 2019 led the Railway Technical Tour on a visit to Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
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.
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.
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.

Recognition

A paper by Eickhoff et al. was awarded the George Stephenson Gold Medal by the IMechE in 2016.
She was awarded the James Clayton Prize by the IMechE in 2017 at the Science Museum, London. Herbert Walker Swift, her great-uncle, had previously also won the James Clayton Prize in 1952.
During 2019 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
In the 2025 Birthday Honours Eickhoff was made a Member of the British Empire with a citation of "for services to railway engineering".

Personal life

Eickhoff's partner is Felix Schmid, Professor emeritus of railway engineering.

Publications

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