The Rail Ombudsman is launching ‘The Young Person’s Train Guide’; a rail byelaw campaign aimed at young people by engaging with Rail Operators and other stakeholders in the industry. Train operator Merseyrail has picked up this initiative and has partnered with local schools in the Liverpool City Region to educate the new generation of rail users on ways to remain safe when using the network and empower them to use trains confidently in the future.
Since the establishment of the first Rail Ombudsman in 2018, young people’s lack of knowledge of rail travel, the laws and byelaws that govern it and passenger’s responsibilities and obligations to achieve safe passage, has been evident. Cases whereby young people are penalised based on a lack of experience or knowledge of the rail sector, can be very damaging. Their experience of the industry is negatively impacted, confidence is knocked, and parents, guardians and families’ reactions have long term industry repercussions.
The campaign, created by the Rail Ombudsman – an independent organisation offering a free service to rail users to help sort out unresolved customer complaints about train operating companies, seeks to target and address this growing problem by supplying interactive exercise packs to schools and youth groups that can either be completed by young adults independently, or as part of the PSHE curriculum though teacher-led worksheets, competitions and blog style content. The learnings gained from these lessons can directly be implemented on their next rail journey and includes content themes such as fares and ticketing; unacceptable rail behaviour; safety and rail cards.
The educational campaign targets reaching young people across Great Britain and the resources can be downloaded for free directly from the Rail Ombudsman’s website.
Through collaboration with the industry and key stakeholders, a key remit of the Rail Ombudsman is to recommend solutions to prevent future complaints but also to increase confidence of young people and their parents and families in a safe, nonthreatening, accessible way.
