After more than two years, c2c has again run a ‘Try a Train’ event to help young people with special needs to travel independently.

The event is part of c2c’s commitment to make the railway accessible to all. Approximately 20 pupils from South Essex college USP (Unified Seevic Palmers) joined the c2c team on a train journey from Benfleet to Shoeburyness. The event was organised with Essex County Council to help introduce young people with a range of disabilities to the practicalities and ease of train travel, and to give them the confidence to travel safely and independently.

On arrival at Benfleet, the students were given a tour of the station and shown the timetable boards, car park.

Explained to them were the options for onward travel, the various ticketing options, and how to obtain customer information. They then met the station team before joining a train for a journey to Shoeburyness and an afternoon by the seaside.

Essex County Council’s Travel Trainer Manager, Jonathan Bloomfield, said:

“The Travel Training Team want to say a huge thank you to c2c for hosting the first Try A Train day since 2019. It was amazing to see a group of young future rail travellers experiencing rail travel in some cases for the first time with the support and guidance of both the Travel Training team and c2c. Without these events young people with visible and hidden disabilities may not have the confidence to travel independently. Fantastic days like these can make such a huge difference to a young person’s life.”

c2c Managing Director, Rob Mullen, said:

“I’m so pleased that we’re running these very important sessions again and it was great to hear how much the students enjoyed the day. We hope events such as these will help inspire those with disabilities to feel confident when travelling by train; we’re working hard with our teams to make it easier for passengers who may need a helping hand when travelling with us. The Try a Train programme is an important part of our commitment to accessible travel on the c2c network.”