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Thursday 12 Sep 2024

Survey finds regional railway workers underrated in public importance

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

| Eastern: East Midlands

| Eastern: North & East

New findings* released today (Thursday 12 September) reveal railway professionals are underrated in public importance compared to other key workers.

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 Eastern region (1%).

The results come as Network Rail launches a new campaign 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).**

With just under half of respondents (42%) 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.

Rob Merry works as a community safety manager for Network Rail’s East Coast route.

Rob said: “Working as a community safety manager is an incredibly rewarding job and I am delighted to support this campaign. I spend most of my time with the local community, attending schools and educating people on the dangers around the railway.

“I love my job and safety is our top priority, I am committed to making the railway a safer place, improving train performance and inspiring young people on making the right decisions.”

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 to 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.”

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