The rail delivery consultancy SLC has established a partnership with the Rail Safe Friendly programme as it endeavours to get a message across to young people about the many dangers to be found on and around the railway.

Stuart Heaton, the Managing Director of Learn Live and Rail Safe Friendly, launched the programme in March 2023 after 11-year-old Harrison Ballantyne was fatally electrocuted when he climbed over a fence at a train depot to retrieve his football.

The Rail Safe Friendly programme delivers video messages about staying safe and the dangers of trespassing on railways to schools through Learn Live, a digital education provider, with the option of the programmes being live or on demand.

There is also the facility to take part in moderated, GDPR compliant live chat from the schools and colleges taking part in Rail Safe Friendly.

In the last five years, through a partnership with the Trespass Improvement Team at Network Rail, Learn Live has delivered safety messages to 21 million young people in over 12,500 schools across the UK, with more than 4,000 schools already taking part in the Rail Safe Friendly programme.

More than 80 companies in the rail industry have sponsored and become partners in the programme, and this latest partnership by The Rail Safe Friendly with SLC will enable young people from ten more schools to be shown the dangers they expose themselves to when trespassing on or close to the railway.

In April, Netball Scotland and the Office of Rail and Road became the latest partners in the programme.

The Rail Safe Friendly programme explains that nearly half of the UK railway network is electrified, and more than 30 per cent has a third rail electrified at 750 volts. If anyone steps onto the third rail, they are likely to be killed or seriously injured.

Overhead cables are even more lethal as they carry 25,000 volts which can jump or arc through the air to nearby objects, meaning someone standing close to the line does not have to touch it to be in danger of being electrocuted and killed.

Any organisations that would like to be a Rail Safe Friendly partner or schools that wish to be certified can find out further details at www.railsafefriendly.com.

As we help our clients to build new rail stations and open new rail lines, we believe that our partnership with the Rail Safe Friendly programme will help us to have an even bigger social value impact in the communities in which we work by ensuring more school children are educated about rail safety. This learning will help encourage a younger generation to be confident rail passengers in the future.

Sam Uren, Director of SLC

SLC works on many projects across the UK and we are delighted to welcome them to Rail Safe Friendly. The support of the rail industry is pivotal in ensuring rail safety education is delivered to as many schools and youth organisations as possible.

Since Rail Safe Friendly launched in March 2023, it has been embraced by more than 80 train operating companies, freight operating companies and small to large organisations working across the rail supply chain, with one goal, to ensure children receive vital education to keep them rail safe.

Stuart Heaton, Managing Director of Learn Live and Rail Safe Friendly