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Community Rail News – 30 April 2025

Hello everyone. We hope you are all keeping cool and enjoying the warmer weather.

Community Rail Week is now less than three weeks away! A reminder that we have developed digital toolkits to help members and partners get the most from the campaign and link in with our national messages. We are showcasing the array of events, activities and online promotions taking place across Britain on our interactive map. If you haven’t already, please do share the details of your plans with our comms team.

We are also asking members to submit video clips or voice notes sharing your favourite aspects of Community Rail Week and Railway 200, as well as what community rail means to you, to use across our social media promotions during the campaign. Videos or recordings should be between 30-90 seconds and of good quality. Please send clips or any queries to our comms team by Friday 9 May.

We’re delighted to announce that our next Community Rail Awards will be held on Thursday 19 March 2026 at Derby Arena, with East Midlands Railway as our headline sponsor. Please do save the date in your diaries, and further details will be announced in the coming months.

We have an online session coming up for members, aimed at both CRPs and station groups. ‘Longer-term impact through sustainable gardening and biodiversity at stations’ will be held on Wednesday 11 June, 2-4pm. More details, guest speakers and outline agendas will be available soon. Book your place here.

The April edition of Rail Director magazine features an article showcasing the inspiring range of initiatives that were recognised at our 20th anniversary Community Rail Awards in March. Read the piece here, on page 90.

Send your stories to news@communityrail.org.uk and see our guidance on submitting stories.

Your next bulletin is on 14 May. Keep up-to-date in between on Facebook, InstagramLinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky and X.

Best wishes,
Jeremy and Bill



Members have been busy getting their local communities into the spirit of spring with a series of Easter-themed activities. The Easter Bunny was aboard the Barton Cleethorpes CRP (left) and Yorkshire Coast CRP (right) Easter trains, handing out chocolate eggs along with Railway 200 postcards and activity sheets to keep families with young ones entertained.

Rachel Osborne, Yorkshire Coast CRP officer, said: “The Easter train was full to capacity with families travelling to the seaside and there was a happy buzz in the atmosphere as the Easter Bunny and our volunteers walked up and down the train. Events like these encourage families to try the train and we always find some people using the service for the first time. We always get such positive feedback.”
Friends of Glossop Station were delighted to open up their station to attendees of the Derbyshire Makes Festival earlier this month. The festival aims to celebrate cultural activities in all their diverse forms, with Glossop being selected to represent High Peak as one of the six districts delivering the project. Over several days, members of the community were invited to a range of creative events and workshops spanning puppeteering, sound tapestry, storytelling, archelogy, film and digital art. Glossop Station hosted a workshop focused on nature conservancy, with support from Northern in delivering the station-based activities for families.
Check out this great visual case study from the Isle of Wight CRP, demonstrating the impact of their travel safety project in conjunction with South Western Railway, which combined live theatre, drama and video content to deliver powerful messages about rail and road safety to Key Stage 4 students. View the pdf version here.