Safety first: Leeds Station hosts Safety Week for 600 schoolchildren

Wednesday 10 May 2023

Safety first: Leeds Station hosts Safety Week for 600 schoolchildren

Region & Route:: Eastern; | Eastern: North & East

Network Rail have teamed up with Leeds United and rail industry partners to teach local schoolchildren about rail safety in a week-long event at Leeds City Station.

Train operators Northern, CrossCountry, LNER and TPE, alongside the British Transport Police, Railway Children and Leeds United FC, are all working with Network Rail to deliver workshops and activities to 600 primary school students from Monday 15 to Friday 19 May.

Local schools from across West Yorkshire are coming to the station throughout the week, with students rotating around the various activities in smaller groups. They will learn how to safely navigate rail stations, including how to use the departure boards and escalators correctly. Northern are also offering them the chance to sit in the driver’s seat on one of their trains.

Students will also have the chance to explore the Dark Arches underneath the station, as well as seeing how the British Transport Police respond to trespass incidents using their drones and marked vehicles. The Leeds United foundation will run sessions on the station’s north concourse, with educational games linked to rail safety facts. Students also have the opportunity to meet players from the club’s women’s and under-21’s team.

Chloe Creffield, Community Safety Manager for Network Rail’s North and East Route, said: “Leeds Station Safety Week will teach vital rail safety messages to school children in West Yorkshire. They will learn all about the dangers present on the railway, what the laws are, and what the consequences could be.”

“Having the support of so many partners is fantastic, and it’s helped to create a really exciting package that we can deliver to all the students that are attending the event.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Schools attending Leeds Station Safety Week are as follows:

Oulton Primary, Leeds
Fizzinghall Primary, Bradford
Clapgate Primary, Middleton
Outwood Primary, Wakefield
All Saints Richmond Hill, Ilkley
Addingham Primary School, Ilkley
Cross Gates Primary School, Cross Gates
Pudsey Primrose Hill, Stanningley
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, Beeston
Birchfield Primary School, Gildersome
Templenewsam Halton Primary School, Halton
Seacroft Grange Primary School, Seacroft
Micklefield CE Primary Academy, Micklefield
Ackton Pastures Primary Academy, Castleford

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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.

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