The Railway Work, Life and Death project (RWLD) has collaborated with community rail to help connect local communities with their railway history.

The Railway Work, Life and Death project (RWLD) is a joint initiative between the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick. The initiative aims to make it easier to find out about railway worker accidents in Britain and Ireland from the late 1880s to 1939, providing data about who was involved, what they were doing on the railways, what happened to them and why.

Since RWLD’s initial call out to community rail in early 2025, the project has collaborated with several community rail partnerships to bring the stories of past railway staff back into the communities they served.

In the Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts project, funded by the University of Portsmouth’s Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation, RWLD worked with the Havant Local History Group to research past railway staff in the Portsmouth area. As well as a travelling exhibition, they produced posters about the staff. With the support of the Hills to Harbour CRP, part of Hampshire CRP, and South Western Railway, the posters are being displayed at Havant and Petersfield stations.

Supported by longer, web-based accounts, the posters tell the life stories of people like Arthur Churchill, who spent time in the Woking railway orphanage as a child before going on to work on the railway, and William Bridger, injured in an accident at work in the 1870s, but staying with his employer and becoming a signalman at Fishbourne, near Havant. One particularly fitting aspect was that several of the accounts involved working with descendants of the staff featured.

Similarly, RWLD contributed to ‘Tracks through Time’, an initiative highlighting more diverse railway stories. Run by New Vic Borderlines, and involving Foxfield Railway, ‘Tracks through Time’ was funded through Avanti West Coast by North Staffordshire CRP, and involved creating posters and web stories sharing the life stories of past Staffordshire railway workers. ‘Tracks through Time’ was displayed at Crewe Station whilst Inspiration, the Railway 200 exhibition train, visited in January 2026.

Charlene Arrondeau, community rail development officer for the Hills to Harbour CRP, said: “Community Rail Network and South Western Railway provide invaluable support to local partnerships like ours, enabling community-led initiatives such as these posters to reach passengers and strengthen connections between railways and the communities they serve.

“At Hampshire CRP, we’re passionate about connecting people to their local railway, and these posters show what can be achieved when local partners work together with a shared purpose.”

Paula Aldridge, community rail manager at South Western Railway, said: ‘It’s been great to see posters from the Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts project at Havant and Petersfield stations, showcasing railway staff over the years – particularly fitting during Railway 200. We’re really pleased the response has been so positive – a demonstration of the value of working with our CRPs and external partners in our community.”

Find out more about the Railway Work, Life and Death project and how your community rail partnership or station group can get involved here.