Great Western Railway REACH and Network Rail Cultural Fusion staff networks are dedicated to the advancement of diversity and inclusion in their areas of the rail industry. Both networks wanted to play a part in celebrating Caribbean culture at the world’s largest community-led event, the Notting Hill Carnival, and collaborated with Severnside CRP to make it happen.

The project involved providing free rail travel from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington to help reduce barriers to rail travel and open opportunities to underrepresented groups, who would otherwise not have been able to attend the diverse, celebratory event. This included members of Bristol Black Carers, Bath Black Families Education Group, Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association and St Nicholas of Tolentine School.

To create a carnival atmosphere on the train, Bristol artist Abbi Baylis was commissioned to create art packs for those attending to help festoon the carriages with carnival-themed artwork, Glen’s Kitchen, a Caribbean Café in Bristol, was selected to provide Jamaican snacks, and a steel band greeted the passengers at Paddington Station.

This first of its kind event provided a fantastic opportunity for Severnside CRP to collaborate with the rail industry, investing in positive travel experiences for local communities and showcase their shared commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion.

To further support the Remembrance Day services happening in their region every year, CRPs in the East Midlands worked alongside The Veterans Charity and East Midlands Railway to establish a creative engagement project. Over 140 members of the community were involved in workshops hosted by a local artist, in which different community groups created eight artworks symbolising the significance of Remembrance Day. Other aspects of the project included producing a reflective video filmed with ex-service EMR employees and a local cadet group, sharing their experience of being in the armed forces and the important of reflection, as well as working with station adopters to create a sea of poppies and other displays at stations across the network.

Built in 1905, Somerleyton Swing Bridge is one of three surviving structures still using much of its original machinery and serving the railway on the Norfolk and Suffolk border. Wherry Lines CRP and the Lowestoft Central Project worked with Network Rail to enable the public to visit and learn more about the iconic railway structure, which is usually out of bounds, as part of the headline event for the Heritage Open Days festival. Over 1,000 people from across the UK enquired about the tour, with a lucky 150 grabbing a space. All enquiries and bookings were handled by volunteers at the Lowestoft Central Project shop, and Network Rail engineers and bridge operators conducted the tours, sharing the history of the bridge and demonstrating how it functions. The Somerleyton Swing Bridge Tours successfully contributed to a large amount of publicity for the heritage festival, placing the railway at the very heart of the celebrations.