Safety
No trespassing! The campaign for safety awareness
South Western Rail is investing in a new safety partnership with the charity UK Youth. The partnership aims to educate young people aged 11-25 on the risks of railway trespassing, vandalism, level crossing misuse, and other dangerous areas, to improve the overall safety of the service. Frankie Youd finds out about the partnership.
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ravelling along tracks at a speed between 60-65mph and reaching up the 130mph on main lines, the UK railway is an environment that can result in a number of accidents, train collisions, and in some cases fatalities, if not treated with the caution required.
As reported by the Office of Rail and Road, between 2022-2021 there were 10 recorded passenger fatalities, with two occurring on the mainline and eight occurring on London Underground. Alongside this, on the mainline, there were five fatalities at level crossings involving members of the public in 2020-2021, compared to two in 2019-20.
The number of near-misses at level crossings involving pedestrians also increased to 342, which is the highest recorded number since the data collection began in 2002-2003.
In a hope to reduce these figures, UK Youth, a charity that aims to empower young people, has partnered with South Western Rail (SWR) to create the ‘Off the track, onto the path of success’ course, to educate young people on the dangers and risks surrounding the railway environment.
Network Rail CEO Andrew Haines. Credit: Network Rail
The aims of the partnership
Announced in October last year, the partnership aims to educate young people aged 11-25 on the risks of railway vandalism, trespassing, and level crossing misuse.
Running across the winter and spring of 2022, participants will be able to join a variety of workshops and activities designed to heighten awareness of railway safety. The course is planned to be held at UK Youth’s Avon Tyrrell outdoor learning venue in Hampshire.
Speaking on the partnership, David Watts, director of outdoor learning at UK Youth said: “The pandemic has brought additional challenges for all young people over the past few years, which means providing them with opportunities such as this to experience outdoor learning and physical activity to deliver vital life skills, and support good citizenship, has never been more important.
“We have heard loud and clear from young people that they want more outdoor learning opportunities especially given the impact of the pandemic. This allows us to combine the interests and asks of young people with key life skills and safety messaging which will equip them for the future and enable them to thrive.”
SWR has committed £40,000 to the project as part of the operator’s ongoing commitment to supporting communities across the rail network via its Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF).
The partnership is a great opportunity to engage with younger customers and educate them on the operations and risks of a railway.
The CCIF aims to involve communities, customers, and stakeholders in identifying initiatives and schemes that address areas of social need in local communities across the SWR network. So far, the fund has covered a variety of different schemes including diversity and outreach projects and building refurbishment projects.
Speaking in a press release on the new partnership, Veronika Krcalova, CCIF manager at SWR, said: “We are always looking for new ways to improve railway safety and support the communities that our network serves.
“Our partnership with UK Youth is a great opportunity to engage with younger customers and educate them on the operations and risks of a railway. In turn, we hope that it will improve both the safety of those participating in the course, as well as other customers.”
What does the course involve?
The primary target audience for the course is young people who live within a 20-mile radius of an SWR train station. By using outdoor learning, the course helps to develop young people’s general understanding of railway risks as well as the dangers that they put themselves – and others – in if they wander onto tracks.
Running across two nights and three days, the course will take place at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre,
“The centre is located in the beautiful location of The New Forest National Park,” explains Watts. “By using practical outdoor sessions, along with a mix of indoor leadership and railway awareness sessions, learning can be immediate, and participants will be able to assess their understanding of risk in real-time.”
The outdoor content has been framed to address three principles. Firstly is 'experience', with the programme offers a variety of adventure activities to engage young people and help bring learning to life.
Trespassing on the railway is an age-old problem. Credit: Peter Nilson
The Second core principle is 'learning'. Experienced facilitators will aim to deliver a progressive programme to embed an understanding of the topic area. Outdoor adventure sessions have been designed around creating an understanding of perceived risk and actual risk and will also include opportunities for all participants to take on a leadership role to learn about their own personal development.
The last principle the course focuses on is 'development'. ‘Off the track, onto the path of success’ will include workshops aimed at empowering individuals to develop their leadership skills, allowing them to use these insights to become leaders on this subject within their own lives.
The introduction of this course aims to address the current – as well as future – needs of young people across the UK, while also creating lasting memories and experiences to build confidence as well as a sense of accomplishment and character.
“By combining fun adventure activities with key safety messaging, this programme will aim to develop an accessible understanding of both real and perceived risk, empowering young people to become leaders who can raise awareness around railway safety across their peers and others in their communities,” Watts says.
Main animation: Noemi Balint
