About Us | Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership

Our team

The Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership, now hosted by Essex County Council, was formed in 1998, with the aim of promoting local communities and rail travel within the east of England. It sits under a larger umbrella of the Community Rail Network and is fully supported by the Department for Transport, who see community rail as a vital link between the rail industry and local communities.

Who we are and what we do

Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership look after six lines, The Flitch Line, Gainsbourough Line, Mayflower Line, Crouch Valley Line, Southend Line and Sunshine Coast Line. Our aims are to increase the number of passengers using train services, support station adopters improve their local communities and develop community engagement through organising special events.

Supporting our local communities and railway involves producing publicity material, developing partnerships, supporting station adoption projects led by our volunteers, and organising special event trains – such as trains to the Sea Shanty Festival in Harwich, the annual Christmas train and live music showcases.

To find out about the many events throughout the year check out our events page.

Rob

Rob Danson has joined the team as the new Community Rail Engagement Manager, replacing Jayne Sumner following her retirement at the end of 2025.

Before this role he was East of England Regional Manager for a charity called Sported. He supported around 250 East of England based non-profit clubs and organisations that were delivering sport and physical activity to disadvantaged young people, alongside managing a large group volunteers.

He is really excited to be joining the ESSCRP and supporting the amazing work the team already do across all six lines and 40+ stations. He is looking forward to bringing new ideas and projects to the organisation in the coming months and years.

Rob lives in Chelmsford with his family and enjoys playing and watching football. He also enjoys muddy walks as well so one of the big perks of this role is having ready-made walking guides for him to try out in the coming months!

Jane

Jane Stewart joined ESSCRP in August 2023, she lives by the sea in Walton on the Naze.

She looks after the Mayflower and Sunshine Coast lines in the North of Essex and is committed to engaging the community with the more sustainable form of rail transport.

As a community artist she brings experience of working with diverse groups, bringing people together through creative social inclusion activities. She also engages the community in projects to make our stations welcoming places to visit through art and gardening.

June

Joining the team in February 2019, June is based at Chelmsford and looks after The Flitch Line and The Gainsborough Line. She is hoping to bring her previous knowledge of transportation gained from Essex and London to the role. She also hopes her experience of planting up hanging baskets will help.

Andrew

Andrew joined the team in May 2025 and looks after the Crouch Valley Line and the Southend Line. He has experience working on community and business engagement projects across several different industries and is looking forward to getting to know local communities in Essex.

Who we work with

We have developed relationships with various local and national organisations over recent years who help us increase engagement with our local communities and assist in organising a diverse range of events. Below are just some of the organisations we have worked with recently.