Media centre

• Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launches as 52% of people in the south west admit to swerving someone they don’t know to avoid small talk.

• Reading station will host a pop-up campaign event on Wednesday 6 March to get people talking.

Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launches as 48% of people in Wales admit to swerving someone they don’t know to avoid small talk. 

For the first time since its opening in 1849, passengers are set to have a fully accessible rail station in Mossley, Greater Manchester.

• Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launches as half the nation admit to swerving someone they don’t know to avoid small talk.
• Nearly half of British adults in the Southern region avoid engaging with someone they don’t know to avoid small talk.
• 24% are worried they would say the wrong thing when engaging with someone.
• 92% of people say they don’t have a go-to question to start small talk.
• 82% have used small talk in their personal lives over the past month.

• Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launches as half the nation admit to swerving someone they don’t know to avoid small talk.

• Pop-up events will give passengers at Glasgow Central, Haymarket, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dumfries, Lockerbie, Kirkcaldy and Stirling the chance to practice their small talk.

• Samaritans’ Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launches as half the nation admit to swerving someone they don’t know to avoid small talk
• A pop-up ‘Small Talk Salon’ will give London King’s Cross passengers the chance to practice their small talk with a trim and a chat

Passengers are being reminded to check before they travel between Cardiff Central and Swansea on three Sundays in March when Network Rail will be carrying out essential track renewals.

The East Coast Digital Programme has taken a big step forward with the renewal of infrastructure successfully commissioned that now enables the Welwyn to Hitchin (W2H) ETCS overlay to be tested and proven, with engineers having worked around the clock between 17-20 February. W2H is Britain’s first instance of infrastructure commissioning towards a ‘no signals’ intercity mainline.