Community Rail Week

Community Rail Week 2027

17 – 23 May 2027 | Behind Every Journey

Community Rail Week is Community Rail Network’s flagship annual campaign and a chance for community rail partnerships, station groups and our partners across Britain, to celebrate and showcase the difference community rail makes to people and places. This year we’ve inviting members and partners to help tell the stories that exist Behind Every Journey.

On this page you can explore this year’s campaign, find out how to get involved, and take inspiration from activities delivered in previous years.

Community Rail Week aims to:

Champion the impact of community rail through compelling stories that showcase its role in bringing together people, place and partnership;
Empower members to maximise the reach and impact of their local activities through a shared national campaign;
Influence rail reform discussions, strengthening community rail’s profile among senior industry partners, decision-makers and policy-makers.

Behind Every Journey

This year’s theme is about celebrating the people, places and partnerships that make community rail possible. From community rail partnerships and volunteers to stations, destinations and collaborative projects, every journey has a story behind it. Community Rail Week 2027 is an opportunity to share those stories and showcase the positive impact community rail has on communities across Britain.

Download this year’s logo

How to get involved

Community Rail Week is a chance for everyone connected with community rail to get involved in celebrating the theme. Whether you are a member group, partner organisation or supporter, there are many ways to take part throughout the week – and involvement doesn’t have to mean hosting a physical event.

Activities can be online or in person, from digital promotions and storytelling to campaigns, partnerships and local initiatives. Every contribution, big or small, helps bring Community Rail Week to life and increases its reach and impact.

Below you’ll find helpful pages that outline practical ways you can get involved.

Community rail partnerships

Station volunteer groups

Partners and supporters

How we’ll support you

Our team are available to provide support in the planning and development of your Community Rail Week activities. We will provide:

Community Rail Week campaign toolkit (launching March 2027)
Social media support and advice
Promotion of member and partner activities
Guidance on how to get involved and case studies from previous activities
Advice on planning activities and engagement opportunities
Help signposting funding or existing resources where appropriate
Advice on collecting stories, evidence and impact

For support tailored to your area or group, please get in touch with our policy and communications team or speak to your usual support and development team member.

Tell us about your activity and share your stories

Planning something for Community Rail Week? Let us know!

Sharing details of your activities helps us celebrate and promote your work through our communications and media activity, and include it on our interactive Community Rail Week map (launching March 2027).

Whether you’re hosting an event, running an online promotion or sharing stories and local activity, tell us what you’re doing so we can help amplify your impact and showcase the breadth of activity across the network.

Share your activity plans using this form

Or email the policy and communications team

Measuring success and impact

An important part of any activity is measuring its impact, as this helps demonstrate your value to key stakeholders and decision‑makers, and supports future planning, see advice here. We’ll be asking for your engagement and impact figures after the campaign to help us build a picture of the success nationwide.

How to measure success and impact for your Community Rail Week activity

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss how your community rail partnership, station volunteer group, organisation or business can get involved in this year’s campaign, contact Alice, campaigns & communications manager.