Accredited Partnership 2024
We are pleased to announce the Department of Transport have awarded ESSCRP a Community Rail Accredited Partnership Award for 2024
What is community rail?
Community rail is a grassroots movement working to engage communities in their local railway. Initiatives range from people helping to maintain station gardens to major refurbishment schemes.
Although some community railways provide a tourism service, they are largely separate from heritage and private railways which function solely as tourist attractions.
Community rail takes the form of community rail partnerships and station adoption groups.
Community rail partnerships accreditation
Community rail partnerships bring together local groups and partners from the rail industry with industrial groups to deliver a wide range of rail activities. The partnership usually represents a number of stations and services operating over a railway line.
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The Value of Community Rail
Our adopters and community rail organizations play a significant role in promoting rail travel, and there is evidence that travel is higher on these lines. The Community Rail Network has recently released their latest report, “The Value of Community Rail,” along with an accompanying press release. This report, highlighted by the Rail Delivery Group, showcases the efforts of the 75 community rail partnerships, which now cover more than a third (35%) of Britain’s rail network, and nearly 1,300 station groups, encompassing half of Britain’s 2,500+ stations.
The findings reveal that community rail engages 125,000 people annually in a wide range of activities, generating £129 million in social value for communities across Britain. Among these 125,000 participants, a significant number are children and young people, with an estimated 65,000 involved annually in education and youth engagement projects, contributing £45 million in social value through partnerships with 2,000 schools, colleges, and youth groups. This grassroots community rail movement is crucial in placing local railways and stations at the heart of inclusive, empowered, sustainable, and healthy communities. We have launched a scheme to support local, community-focused rail improvements in our region.
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