Community Rail News – 18 March 2026

March 19, 2026

Hello everyone,

In recent months, we’ve been working closely with members and rail sector partners on something that sits at the heart of community rail: social value. Put simply, social value is the difference something makes in people’s lives and communities – in the case of rail, it includes opening up opportunity and helping to create stronger, more inclusive and sustainable places.

Across community rail, this happens every day: bringing people together, tackling isolation, helping young people build skills and confidence, encouraging greener travel, and making stations welcoming, community spaces.

As the rail sector increasingly focuses on measuring and delivering social value, it’s important that the impact of community rail is recognised and evidenced. Our recent work has included:

Sharing community rail insights for the new Rail Social Value Framework, being developed by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB);
Working with a small group of CRPs to trial the Rail Social Value Tool, helping to test how well it can be used to assess community rail activity;
Mapping community rail projects to identify common social value measures and highlight evidence gaps;
Establishing an internal cross-team group to develop a clearer, consistent approach to social value reporting;
Expanding our training and support plans to help members plan impactful activities and demonstrate the outcomes they deliver.

This builds on our report on the Value of Community Rail, which contains wide-ranging evidence on community rail delivering positive outcomes and an impressive social return on investment.

We’re also continuing to champion the role of community rail in wider industry discussions, including through RSSB’s Social Sustainability Working Group. Last year we were commissioned by this group to carry out research on best practice in community engagement with rail. The final report offers insights into how rail organisations can work more closely with communities and support the delivery of greater social value in line with the Sustainable Rail Blueprint.

And, speaking of social value…tomorrow night in Derby, we’ll be celebrating the incredible work happening across the community rail movement at the 2026 Community Rail Awards. It’s going to be our biggest celebration yet, recognising the people and projects connecting communities and creating real change. Whether you’re joining us in Derby or not, keep an eye on our social media channels and join the conversation using #CRA26.

Best wishes,
Jeremy and Jools

Community Rail Development Fund

The 2025-26 Community Rail Development Fund is now closed. However, we are now taking expressions of interest for the 2026-27 funding round, which we hope to make available for applications in April 2026. Find further details on our website and please contact your usual support & development team lead to discuss your ideas.

Team updates

We’re sad to say goodbye to Tiffany Allen, who’s stepping down from her role as fundraising and partnerships lead to pursue a new career. We’re grateful for Tiffany’s efforts developing our fundraising and corporate partnerships, and wish her all the best. Recruitment is soon to be underway.

We are delighted that Allison Hughes has joined the team as training and development officer. Allison brings with her extensive experience across the charity sector, with roles spanning learning and development. Please join us in wishing Allison a very warm welcome.

Project management training

Our upcoming training session on Monday 27 April, 9.45am-3pm, online via Zoom, will explore the stages of project management, offering tools and techniques to enable successful projects that clearly show their value. There will be plenty of time for discussion and to work in small groups. It’s primarily aimed at community rail officers, but other members are welcome. Full details here.

Connectivity Tool webinar

The Department for Transport’s Connectivity Tool has been designed to help professionals understand how sustainably connected a place is, and transport interventions needed to improve on this. We’re hosting an online session on Wednesday 29 April, 12-1pm, where members of the DfT team will demonstrate the tool, explore opportunities for community rail to use it, and answer questions. This session is open to members and partners. Book your place.

Your next bulletin, a Community Rail Awards winners special edition, is on 1 April. Keep up-to-date in between on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky and X.

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