Network Rail teams up with Learn Live to deliver important message to school pupils during Rail Safety Week: Andy Philips delivers an important safety message to secondary schools

Friday 30 Jun 2023

Network Rail teams up with Learn Live to deliver important message to school pupils during Rail Safety Week

Region & Route:
Wales & Western: Western
| Wales & Western

This morning (Friday 30 July), pupils from 2,427 secondary schools had the opportunity to hear from industry experts on the importance of staying safe around the railway as Network Rail joined the online learning platform Learn Live to broadcast a special session on rail safety to schools across Network Rail’s Western route, which runs from Paddington to Penzance.

The session featured an in-depth look at the dangers of trespassing on the railway from Network Rail representatives.

The pupils also watched videos from the hard-hitting You Vs Train campaign, run by British Transport Police and Network Rail, which highlights the devastating consequences that trespassing on the railway can have. 

Andy Philips, Network Rail’s route crime and security programme manager, said: “Working with Learn Live to educate secondary school pupils about the dangers of trespassing on the railway has been an immensely rewarding experience.

“It’s been great to build on the work of our community safety teams, who regularly visit schools to promote the importance of staying safe on and around the railway.

“Trespassing is illegal and could leave you with life-changing injuries or worse. The railway is not a playground and there are many hidden dangers, including the overhead power lines, from which 25,000 volts of electricity can jump if you get too close.

“Teaching pupils about these dangers through the Learn Live platform can have a lasting positive impact and helps everyone stay safe on the railway. I’d like to thank Learn Live for the opportunity to take part and hope that the pupils found the session engaging and educational.”

Stuart Heaton, managing director at Learn Live said: “The Learn Live Team are delighted to be working with Andy Phillips and his team to educate young people in the region about rail safety”

Notes to Editors

Learn Live have been working with Network Rail since 2016 with the aim to educate as many young people as possible about the dangers of the railway. Rail Safe Friendly builds on the success of the Learn Live digital delivery of educating young people across the UK about rail safety as part of the Network Rail You vs Train campaign.

Since 2019, Learn Live have reached over 17 million young people in 10,500 schools across the UK in partnership with the Trespass Improvement Team at Network Rail. Learn Live delivers rail safety via live or on demand rail safety presentation using the Learn Live channel delivered digitally into the classroom or assembly halls. Rail Safe Friendly provides schools and the rail industry with an opportunity to work together towards a common goal to improve rail safety in all schools across the UK using content from the Network Rail Switched On Rail Safety website. To learn more visit: railsafefriendly.com/ 

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Journalists
Emily Maiden
Network Rail
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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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