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.

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.

Who We Are and What We Do

Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partner Ship 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.

We have a yearly plan which includes railway station improvements and a three year plan to get defibrillators at each branch line station. We want our passengers to feel safe at all our stations and continue to use our trains.

Jayne

Joining to manage the small team in 2010, Jayne leads the rail development work at Essex County Council and looks after the day to day management of the Community Rail Team. Jayne enjoys working with volunteers and is keen to improve the branch line stations.

Promoting the six branch lines encouraging footfall, but also engaging with the community and tackling social inclusion, make the role very varied and interesting.

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.