Media centre

Friday 6 Nov 2020

Rail Wellbeing Live Attracts 13,000 from Across Rail Industry

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

• 13,000 railway workers took part in Rail Wellbeing Live this week – the biggest annual event in rail industry
• Content is available to watch on-demand up until midnight on Friday 20 November
• Following its success, the organisers have confirmed it will be an annual virtual event

13,000 rail industry colleagues took part in the first ever Rail Wellbeing Live this week – now officially the biggest annual event in the rail industry.

Following its success, organisers have confirmed Rail Wellbeing Live will now become an annual fixture in the industry calendar, with plans already underway for 2021. They also promised to keep it a virtual event, whatever the situation next year with COVD19.

With more than 41 hours of speeches, Q&As, panel sessions and workshops now uploaded onto the Rail Wellbeing Live website, colleagues across the industry are being encouraged to go back and watch on-demand while it is available, up until midnight on Friday 20 November. People have so far viewed 16,330 hours worth of content.  

John Halsall, chair of the Rail Wellbeing Alliance and managing director of Network Rail’s Southern region, said:

“I’m delighted the first ever Rail Wellbeing Live has been such a huge success. With almost 13,000 people joining us over the two days, we have undoubtedly helped to improve the wellbeing of a significant proportion of people across our industry.

“But this is about much more than the event, it’s about us as an industry saying our personal physical and mental wellbeing is important, we value it and we must protect it. Putting wellbeing at the top of the agenda is good for all of us, not least the passengers and freight users we serve, because a happier, healthier workforce is a more efficient, successful workforce.

“Rail Wellbeing Live is here to stay and we are already thinking about next year’s event, so I would ask everyone to please continue to care for your own wellbeing, and your colleagues, and crucially, keep talking about it.”

Out of more than 140 sessions the most attended was comedian and metal advocate Ruby Wax’s, with 2,503 people tuned in to hear how to ‘unfrazzle’ your brain. Second most attended was BBC Breakfast’s Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s talk, with 2,027 finding out his ‘five steps to feeling better’. Other highlights included retiring RMT General Secretary Mick Cash giving a deeply personal interview about his mental health. All the content is available to view at Rail Wellbeing Live on-demand.