Railway workers underrated in public importance reveals new survey of people in the south west: Hidden Heroes hero montage picture

Thursday 12 Sep 2024

Railway workers underrated in public importance reveals new survey of people in the south west

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

One of the south west’s railway workers stars in a new campaign to highlight the essential roles of people who keep trains running, as new findings* released by Network Rail reveal railway professionals are underrated in public importance compared to other key workers in Britain.

The results come as Network Rail launches the new campaign today (Thursday 12 September) called ‘Hidden Heroes’ – highlighting the vital work its employees do to keep the railway running, with a total of 1.61 billion journeys made by rail passengers in Great Britain in the latest year alone (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024).**

In the public survey, more than half of respondents (56%) understandably ranked health/social care workers as the number one most important key worker. Out of the nine available options, rail professionals were rated as most important by 3% of respondents nationally, with the figure even lower in the south west region (fewer than 1% of respondents).

With over half of respondents from the south west (52%) admitting to little or no understanding of rail workers’ responsibilities, Hidden Heroes challenges perceptions around what it means to work in the rail industry - from mobile operations managers safely removing fallen trees on tracks to prevent train delays, to community safety managers teaching children to make smart decisions around the railway.

To mark the launch of Hidden Heroes, Network Rail is teaming up with talented artists to capture Network Rail colleagues on canvas. Wendy Barratt (Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Winner 2023), Duncan Shoosmith (Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Winner 2019) and Sara Reeve (Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Semi-finalist 2023) will paint a selection of unsung heroes - chosen for the extraordinary care they put into their work - in a live pop-up artist studio in London Waterloo station today (Thursday 12 September).

The finished portraits will be displayed to the public in 2025 as part of Railway 200 - a year-long nationwide partnership-led programme to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway and inspire a new generation of young pioneering talent to choose a career in rail.

Wendy Barratt, Portrait Artist of the Year Winner 2023, said: “I was really pleased to be asked be involved in this project and find the idea of painting the portrait of a 'hidden hero' a really interesting concept, especially in these days of celebrity. I much prefer the stories behind the scenes, painting portraits of ordinary people who do extraordinary things - or things that we just take for granted but are key to the running of our everyday life.”

Anita Bradfield, who has been with Network Rail for five years, is one of the heroes being brought to life on canvas. Anita is a mobile operations manager on Network Rail’s Western route, which means that she’s the first on scene to keep the tracks clear whenever she’s needed. From removing fallen trees or shepherding curious sheep and other creatures off the line to safety, Anita has seen it all and works hard to keep the railway moving, no matter what.

Anita said: “I’m really proud to support this campaign. As a mobile operations manager no two shifts are the same.

"I’m reacting to whatever the day throws at me, from fallen trees on the line, to incidents like vehicles crashing into bridges. I love my job, it comes with serious responsibilities and it’s a huge privilege helping to keep passengers safely on the move.”  

The Western route, which runs from Paddington to Penzance, is also lucky enough to call one of the selected artists a resident. Duncan Shoosmith, who will be using his creative talents to paint the unsung railway heroes, lives in the West Country.

The launch of Hidden Heroes follows the recent announcement of Network Rail’s five-year £45.4bn*** rail improvement plan aimed at delivering a simpler, better, greener railway, with train service performance a key priority. 

Working closely with industry partners, Network Rail’s focus on improving train performance includes:

  • Reducing the impact of external factors, including weather impact, fatalities, trespass and vandalism – one of the biggest causes of delays – by harnessing new technology
  • Reducing infrastructure failures with over 5,000 kms of track being targeted for replacement or heavy maintenance as well as over 3,000 sets of points (rail that moves enabling trains to switch tracks) and heavy investment in new signalling
  • Building the capability of the workforce with investment in training and new technology to improve decision making and cross-industry working
  • Improving timetables to remove bottlenecks, conflicts and unrealistic timings at and between stations
  • Faster recovery from incidents so fewer trains and customers are delayed when things happen

Andrew Haines, chief executive, Network Rail, said: “Seeing first-hand the vitally important work staff do on the railway, connecting people with friends and family and helping to support economic growth, instils an immense sense of personal pride.

“Our priority is to deliver a reliable railway that people can trust to get them where they need to be. I hope this campaign helps to inform the public of the essential role our people play in delivering this mission.”

For more information, please visit www.networkrail.co.uk/hidden-heroes

Notes to Editors

  • *The research was conducted by Savanta in April 2024 with a total sample size of 2,000+ GB adults (18+)

Q (Rank 1) Which of the following groups of key workers, if any, do you think are most important to the UK:

  • - Health/social care, ranked 1 by 56% of respondents
  • - Police, ranked 1 by 12% of respondents
  • - Food production, supply or sale, ranked 1 by 8% of respondents
  • - Education, ranked 1 by 7% of respondents
  • - Military, ranked 1 by 6% of respondents
  • - Fire and rescue, ranked 1 by 6% of respondents
  • - Rail, ranked 1 by 3% of respondents
  • - Waste collection or disposal, ranked 1 by 2% of respondents
  • - Postal or courier service, ranked 1 by fewer than 1% of respondents

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
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Journalists
Emily Maiden
Network Rail
Emily.Maiden@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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