The North East of England is home to some world class attractions telling the story of the birth of the modern passenger railway, and Bishop Line CRP wanted to deliver a tourism marketing campaign to increase awareness of how many attractions along their line are easily accessible by rail.

The campaign was executed through print, digital and social media, featuring spotlights on six different attractions and calls-to-action for interested visitors. Messages spread even wider on social media, with attractions not included in the campaign commenting on posts with their own offers and positive sentiment, showing an appetite to expand the campaign in future.

The campaign was well-received across all channels, and Northern Trains ticket data even showed an increase from summer 2023 for the stations featured in the campaign. In Rail Period 5 (21 July – 17 August), ticket sales to North Road Station serving Hopetown Darlington increased by 196% from 1,072 to 2,105, and ticket sales to Shildon Station serving Locomotion increased by 157% from 1,781 to 2,798. The two independent small businesses at Stanhope Station – the café on platform one and craft market on platform two – also benefited from increased trade over the summer as a result of the promotion.

Through the campaign, Bishop Line CRP established the positive impact community rail has to bring together local visitor attractions as a wider, regional tourism offer, showing the overwhelming appetite for, and positive benefits of, greener leisure travel options.

The Cambrian Railway Partnership wanted to enhance the journey experience, taking passengers beyond the scenic views of the line and into local communities. They worked with Window Seater to develop an audio travel guide that brought local stories of history, culture, and language to life, all whilst promoting sustainable travel. The bi-lingual guide, which sits on the Window Seater app, encourages the use of the Welsh language, providing help with pronunciation of places, notable words, and their meaning. The audio guide is also inclusive, providing transcripts of the audio for those who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, and it has also proved to be popular with users who are blind or visually impaired.

Funding was secured through the Transport for Wales Challenge Fund, the Community Rail Development Fund and the Cambrian Railway Partnership. The project was also supported by tourism partners including Heritage Railways, Mid Wales Tourism and local third sector organisations. The result of this project has enabled visitors to feel more connected to the Cambrian Line communities they are passing through, with many users reporting that it has encouraged them to visit other destinations in the area.