The week before #RSW23 (to fit in with school timetables) Kent Community Rail Partnership has gone into Catch 22 College and Sheppey College with support from Network Rail and Southeastern to highlight:
- The importance of planning for safe rail travel
- Positive behaviours around stations and on trains
- Assistance available through BTP via ‘61016’ and Railway Guardian
- The dangers of trespassing
The sessions included hard-hitting stories from the You V Train series of educational videos from Network Rail.
These real life stories of young people and their loved ones living with the consequences of trespass were impactful, provoking a great deal of discussion and reinforcing the simplest rail safety message – “Keep off the tracks.”
Railcards and other discounted fares were highlighted as was fare-dodging and the possibile consequence of fines and a criminal record.
At Catch 22 there was some further discussion of how to help when you see poor behaviours on trains or at stations.
Our key message is to report incidents of aggression and harassment to British Transport Police on 61016 and seek assistance from Southeastern staff where available. You should only ever consider direct intervention techniques outlined in the Railway Guardian app when you are certain you will not place yourself at risk.
For Sheppey College we are looking to get a new cohort of students involved in refreshing the rail safety, positive behaviour and local tourism messaging they have created and displayed at stations on the Swale Rail line.
We would like to thank the students for listening and engaging with the discussions. We would also like to thank Nicola Dooris of Network Rail and Kimone Lyle-English of Southeastern for their assistance delivering these messages.
