Display at Doncaster station will celebrate Community Rail Week

They will be promoting rail journeys along its line to Bridlington and Scarborough and demonstrating their rail user app.

The event is one of many activities taking place in Yorkshire and the Humber and across Britain during Community Rail Week, which runs from 22 to 28 May, including youth engagement projects, guided walks and station tours, and campaigns promoting scenic and sustainable leisure travel, all aiming to connect and empower communities, break down travel barriers, and help us move towards a greener, healthier transport future.

Community Rail Week, organised by Community Rail Network and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group, shines a light on the year-round work of Britain’s 76 community rail partnerships, which cover 34% of Britain’s railway network, and 1,200 station friends groups made up of more than 10,000 volunteers, who tend to about half (47%) of Britain’s 2,570 stations. This includes six community rail partnerships and around 130 station groups covering routes across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Community rail aims to improve travel confidence, increase access to opportunity, tackle social isolation, give communities a voice, and put railways and stations at the heart of community life, while supporting a shift to sustainable, more social forms of travel, including rail.

Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network, said: “Community rail partnerships and thousands of ‘station friends’ volunteers the length and breadth of Britain, including many across Yorkshire and the Humber, are mobilising en masse, engaging local people and partners to raise awareness about sustainable travel by rail, and get people enthused about its many benefits.”

Other activities in Yorkshire and the Humber include:

The Penistone Line Partnership will lead a free guided walk on 23 May. Heading off from from Meadowhall Interchange Station near Sheffield at 10.30am, the walk will take in local routes including through ancient woodland and along the Trans-Pennine Trail.

Calder Valley Community Rail Partnership working with local ‘station friends’ volunteer groups to showcase the community-led transformation of Mytholmroyd Station and enjoy a walk along the canal to Hebden Bridge;

Year 5 pupils from Barkerend Leadership Academy will take the train to Ribblehead for an interactive day of STEM activities with community rail partnerships the Settle to Carlisle Development Company and Community Rail Lancashire, to learn about the history of the viaduct and importance of the railway, before making drawings and models using recycled materials.

Four Yorkshire and Humber stations being shortlisted in the ‘World Cup of Stations’, organised by Rail Delivery Group, which this year is celebrating the roles stations play within local communities.

Ms Townsend added: “Community Rail Week is all about connecting communities and bringing people together, while supporting and enabling more people to travel sustainably by train and access the opportunities they want. Community rail has an inspiring track record of doing just that: promoting travel confidence and broadening mobility horizons, sometimes with life-changing effects, while giving communities a voice on transport, and putting railways and stations at the heart of community life.”

Nationwide events for the week include: the national launch at Tolworth Station in London to highlight the work of Britain’s newest community rail partnership, Community Train CRP; the Rail Minister Huw Merriman MP visiting a community rail promotional display at London Waterloo Station; a Scottish parliamentary reception at Holyrood; a nationwide community rail showcase of sustainable, exciting tourism and leisure opportunities by rail; and the finals of the World Cup of Stations.

Jacqueline Starr, Chief Executive Officer at Rail Delivery Group, said: “Community Rail Week is an opportunity to celebrate the brilliant initiatives that volunteers have produced in partnership with the rail industry all over the country. We are proud to partner with Community Rail to host our annual World Cup of Stations tournament and shine a light on some of the best loved stations.“Together we want to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and customer-focused rail experience for all and celebrate the role of local communities in enhancing our rail network.”