The 14th International conference on Railway Engineering Design and Optimization (COMPRAIL 2014) is the latest in a very successful series of meetings which started in Frankfurt in 1987 and continued in Rome (1990), Washington (1992), Madrid (1994), Berlin (1996), Lisbon (1998), Bologna (2000), Lemnos (2002), Dresden (2004), Prague (2006), Toledo (2008), Beijing (2010) and the New Forest home of the Wessex Institute of Technology (2012). The conference aims to update the use of advanced systems, promoting their general awareness throughout the business management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other emerging passenger, freight and transit systems. It emphasises the use of computer systems in advanced railway engineering. The meeting provides a forum for engineers, planners, designers, manufacturers and operators to discuss how they can benefit from the latest developments in railway engineering.