Last Tuesday, 21 May, a thriving volunteer group welcomed Shadow Rail Minister Stephen Morgan MP to Alexandra Palace Station in North London to celebrate Community Rail Week.

Community Rail Week was designed to show how the railway network is ‘More Than a Railway’. At the station, Stephen Morgan was shown its community nature garden and festival of urban community rail activity, part of a nationwide campaign to help communities get the most from their railways.

Formed in 2016, the Friends of Ally Pally Station has created a community garden to improve the station environment and has provided a channel for the local community to comment on rail improvements.

The group also links up with schools and businesses to deliver community events.

About 1,000 volunteers are members of volunteer groups that have ‘adopted’ 155 stations across the Govia Thameslink Railway and Southeastern network, and throughout the UK there are about 1,300 similar groups.

While visiting the station, the Shadow Minister met other local community rail groups and organisations including from including Welwyn Garden City, Gipsy Hill and Community Train to hear about how their efforts went to improving their local stations.

He later officially opened new mosaic steps leading to the station’s Bedford Rose Garden, and was shown its vibrant community garden and artwork displays.

Community Rail Week was held from Monday, 20 to Sunday, 26 May, organised by the Community Rail Network, and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group. Its theme of ‘More Than a Railway’ celebrated the work of the 75 community rail partnerships and 1,300 station groups that make up the country’s community rail network.

There are 8,000 active volunteers who engage with about 120,000 people a year on 34% of Britain’s railways and at about half its stations.

Typical of these are The Friends of Buxton Station and Community Rail Cumbria.

More information about Community Rail Week can be found by clicking here.

I’m delighted to visit Alexandra Palace Station to celebrate Community Rail Week. It’s vital that our railways and stations remain at the heart of our communities and continue to benefit local people, so it is great to see the impact the community rail movement is having here and across the country.

As we know, our railways play such a key social role in connecting people and communities, so I’d like to pay tribute to all the people who devote their time to looking after them and making our railways more accessible and attractive for all.

Shadow Rail Minister Stephen Morgan

Rail can be much more than a mode of travel: a catalyst for positive change, unlocking opportunities, connecting communities, and enabling climate-friendly mobility. The community rail movement – which is delivering more and more across London and the South East – shows how communities and railways, and the wider transport sector, can work together with amazing results, enhancing local places and changing lives.

From engaging young people on travel confidence, to advising train operators on accessibility and inclusion, to active travel and bus-rail integration, to community gardens and social enterprises at stations: community rail is playing a growing role in the region, harnessing the power of rail to create a more connected, inclusive, sustainable future.

Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network

More than a Railway is a fantastic theme reflecting the hugely positive social impact of community rail. It is a great joy to bring people together to learn new skills, make new friends and transform the lives of hundreds of the many thousands who use Ally Pally Station.

Michael Solomon Williams, founder and Chair of The Friends of Ally Pally Station

I was delighted to join Community Rail Network today at Alexandra Palace to celebrate and thank our Station partners and the amazing work they do.

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director, Govia Thameslink Railway