Press release -
Station volunteers hailed at Community Rail Conference
The crucial role played by community rail partnerships and station adopter groups up and down the country was highlighted at a Community Rail Conference hosted by West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway.
The operators brought more than 100 community-minded rail enthusiasts and industry leaders together for the celebration event at Liverpool’s prestigious St George’s Hall.
The audience heard from guest speakers including the operators' managing director Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde and Linda McCord, senior stakeholder manager at the Transport Focus watchdog.
Fay Easton, head of stakeholder and community for West Midlands Railway, said: “Our mission is to put stations back into the heart of communities and that can only happen with the support of local people.
“Across the West Midlands Railway network there are hundreds of volunteers who donate their time to making stations locally-loved and dozens of stations have been formally adopted by community groups.
“We were very pleased to welcome some of these hard-working people to join us in Liverpool as an acknowledgement of their incredible support.”
Vicky Cropper, head of stakeholder and community for London Northwestern Railway, said: “From the fantastic community artwork on our trains in Marston Vale to our upcoming Amazing Women By Rail project and the beautiful new designs at Tamworth Station, the impact our volunteers have on our environment is clear for all to see.
“All along the London Northwestern route we have a small army of volunteers whose hard work often goes unrecognised which is why we wanted to celebrate their achievements in this public way.”
Following the conference station friends and adopters were treated to a cruise on the Mersey Ferry and tours of some of Liverpool’s most famous buildings.
Facts and Figures
- Across the UK there are more than 1,000 station improvement groups and more than 60 formal Community Rail Partnerships
- In the past year across the West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway networks, more than 40 stations have been formally adopted
- Last year the first Community Rail Partnership in the West Midlands Railway network area – Heart of England CRP – was launched, with another CRP due to launch in Worcestershire later this year
- West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway will host this year’s Community Rail Awards in conjunction with the Association of Community Rail Partnerships in October 2019
For more information about getting involved in supporting your local station contact fay.easton@wmtrains.co.uk (West Midlands Railway network) or vicky.cropper@wmtrains.co.uk (London Northwestern Railway network).
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About West Midlands Trains
For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk
West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.
- London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
- West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.
For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.
West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.
The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com
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