Train operator Northern is arranging training for its workforce to help protect the rising number of vulnerable passengers.

Each year, conductors, customer service and station staff interact with tens of millions of passengers.

These include people who are considered vulnerable in various ways, including through experience of abuse, addiction and intimidation, or in mental distress.

During the recent summer, Northern staff helped three people with interventions that were potentially life-saving.

• In June, Paul Singh, a conductor on a train heading to Manchester Piccadilly helped a 13-year-old boy in distress.
• In July, a conductor arranged quick medical attention to a passenger when her condition deteriorated onboard a Northern train.
• Two workers at Blackburn station received recognition for finding a missing eight-year-old girl in August.

Through its membership of the Safeguarding on Rail Scheme (SRS), Northern is arranging training for its staff on what to do when they spot something that seemsm‘not quite right’.

Dealing with these situations effectively requires knowledge, skills, and confidence, which the training aims to impart.

The Department for Transport and British Transport Police developed the SRS.

The charity Railway Children, which works to identify and intervene to assist individuals at risk on the railway, will deliver the training.

British Transport Police also intervene in thousands of cases involving vulnerable people each year, including ‘county lines’ drug-dealing activity, people in mental health distress and victims of domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation. You can contact British Transport Police by texting 61016 or phoning 0800 40 50 40.

“Everyone who works on the railway has an important part to play in supporting and protecting the vulnerable people who use our trains and stations.

“In the last three months alone, colleagues across our network have intervened to help people in distress on a number of occasions – and I’m so relieved they did.

“As someone who volunteers for Samaritans, I know how important it is for people to receive the help they need, when they need it most.

“Training courses like the one we’re delivering to our employees could make all the difference to someone going through a hard time.”

Lisa Leighton, people director at Northern