Think Hire has been named Service of the Year at the 2026 Spotlight Rail Awards, one of the UK rail industry's most respected annual accolades.

The award recognises Think Hire's Energy-as-a-Service model and its measurable impact on the UK rail sector: reducing carbon emissions, cutting operating costs, and improving the reliability of critical infrastructure projects.

What the judges recognised

Rail sites have historically depended on diesel generators. Reliable in a basic sense, but expensive, polluting, and increasingly incompatible with the sector's net zero commitments. Think Hire replaced that default with solar-hybrid systems, battery energy storage, and intelligent digital management that delivers clean, dependable power, including 100% reliable supply for critical signalling applications.

The Solartainer Versatile range, SiteGrid X BESS systems, and Think Energy Panorama, powered by Galooli, form the backbone of that service. Panorama uses machine learning to predict faults before they cause downtime, resolve issues remotely, and continuously optimise energy use across every deployed unit. The result: 87% of technical issues resolved remotely, with no engineer callout required.

The numbers

The impact across rail deployments speaks for itself:

• 87% of technical issues resolved remotely, a 12% improvement year-on-year
• Millions of litres of fuel saved across active rail projects
• Significant cost savings and carbon reductions delivered across Tier 1 rail contracts
• CO, HC, and particulate number emissions reduced by 87% on active rail sites

Delivering for critical rail applications

Two project types define what the service is capable of. On major electrification and infrastructure works, Think Hire deployed Solartainer Versatile solar-hybrid generators and SiteGrid X45 battery systems, integrating Think Energy Panorama to give project teams real-time visibility of every unit. When site teams needed a smoother transition to solar-hybrid technology, Think Hire developed a generator self-rectification automation within Panorama. It worked so well it was rolled out across the entire Think Hire fleet.

On mission-critical signalling applications, the challenge was different: uninterruptible power for rail signalling substations. The SiteGrid X45 was configured as a mains-fed UPS, automatically switching to battery during grid failure and to generator when battery levels dropped. Despite repeated grid failures, signals stayed live throughout. Zero service interruption penalties.

Neil Richardson, Managing Director:

"This award belongs to our team. The engineers, the monitoring team, the people who take a callout at midnight and fix the problem before the client even knows there was one. Rail is a demanding sector, it has to be. We have built a service that meets that standard, and this recognition means a great deal."

What comes next

Think Hire is expanding its rail capability in 2026, with new industrial-scale BESS units from 100kVA to 500kVA now available for high-energy rail applications, and Think Energy Panorama continuing to develop its predictive and autonomous capabilities.

The work continues.