Students ranging from ages 5 to 18 have been recognised in a national competition to help promote rail safety.

Now in its fifth year, Backtrack: create it, share it, save lives is organised by the Community Rail Education Network, and encourages entrants to design striking, powerful messages to make other young people aware of the dangers of trespassing on the railway.

Over 1,000 entries were received from across the UK in a range of formats, including social media graphics, drawings, animations, podcasts, TV adverts and news reports.

All the winning entries have been compiled into a video which is available to view here.

All the work from the winners and runners up will be used by community rail officers across the country when they visit schools and youth groups to talk about rail safety, as well as being featured on social media – presenting lots of opportunities for different partners to continue to share the #StayOffTheTracks message.

Karen Bennett, chair of the Community Rail Education Network, said: “This year’s entries are fantastic, and we had a hard job choosing the winners as there was such a high standard. We’re so pleased the young people created a diverse range of entries including illustrations, comic strips, animations and podcasts and even a rap.

“Young people are far more likely to take notice of an animation, or a video created by their peers, so we are delighted to have such a vibrant collection of high-quality resources to share with all our colleagues right across the rail industry.

“Well done to everyone who entered. Watch out for the Backtrack Competition in 2026 – we’ll be back.”

Learn more about the Community Rail Education Network here.

Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from Backtrack via the competition’s website.