Friday 6 Oct 2017
Network Rail embraces social channels as new Snapchat filter goes live
- Region & Route:
- | Eastern
Get your hard hats and hi vis at the ready! A new Snapchat filter is now available at stations along the East Coast and Midland Main Lines as Network Rail continues its bold campaign to attract new talent to the rail industry.
The creative filter will allow users of the social media platform to pose while wearing a blue hard hat when inside Newcastle, Leeds, York, Doncaster and Sheffield stations.
It’s all part of a drive to change the perception of the rail industry among young people and raise awareness of the number of railway apprenticeships available, particularly across the north.
Passenger numbers on our railways have doubled in the past 20 years, with the increased demand putting additional strain on a network which requires ever more maintenance. Network Rail is now taking steps to prepare the railway for even more success in the decades to come.
Sophie Jones, senior HR business partner for Network Rail, said: “Our figures highlight the need to attract young talent to Network Rail to prevent a skills gap in the future. Besides losing valuable skills as our current workforce start to approach retirement, it’s also important to have a diverse workforce.“The Snapchat filter is a fun way we’re looking at of making Network Rail one of the first areas young people consider when they’re making decisions about jobs, training and careers."
Rob McIntosh, route managing director for Network Rail, believes changing the way Network Rail approaches recruitment and diversity in the workforce is vital.
“We are behind the times when it comes to diversity and inclusion and that has to change. For the railway to appeal to people from a range of different backgrounds in the future we need to improve the way we reach out.
“Network Rail offers brilliant opportunities for apprentices and our apprenticeship scheme is one of the best out there. With the ever changing technology platforms that exist today, people engage with organisations differently and this Snapchat filter is a small but significant step towards engaging with an audience in a way that we have not done before.”
To become an Network Rail apprentice visit www.networkrail.co.uk/careers
Notes to Editors
The Snapchat filter will be available at the following stations: Newcastle, Leeds, York, Sheffield, Doncaster, Derby, Bedford, Hitchin, Peterborough and London King's Cross
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - Toby Higgins
Head of Communications
Network Rail
0330 333 1800
toby.higgins@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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