SLC, the rail development and delivery specialist, is continuing its partnership with Rail Safe Friendly for another year, reinforcing its commitment to educating young people about rail safety.  

Rail Safe Friendly was launched in March 2023 and delivers video safety content about the dangers of trespassing on railways directly to schools via digital education provider Learn Live, which, since 2019, has reached more than 21 million young people in over 12,500 schools across the UK in partnership with the Trespass Improvement Team at Network Rail.

Since starting 15 years ago, SLC has worked on over 120 transformative rail projects, such as the Northumberland Line, and has also recently been appointed to assist the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) with its rail plan. SLC’s partnership will see young people from a further 10 schools educated on the risks of trespassing on or close to Britain’s railways, following last year reaching 10 schools in Worcestershire and Northumberland last year.   

Sam Uren, Director of SLC, said: “We are proud to extend our partnership with Rail Safe Friendly for another year. At SLC, we’re dedicated to helping our clients build new rail stations and open new lines, and through this collaboration, we can make an even greater social impact in the communities we serve. By educating more school children about rail safety, we’re also inspiring the next generation of confident rail passengers.”

Already, over 8,000 UK schools are on board with the Rail Safe Friendly programme and more than 100 industry partners from across the rail sector have sponsored and become partners in it.

Stuart Heaton, Managing Director of Learn Live and Rail Safe Friendly, said: “SLC works on many projects across the UK and we are delighted to have their continued support of Rail Safe Friendly. The support of the rail industry is pivotal in ensuring rail safety education is delivered to as many schools and youth organisations as possible.

“Since Rail Safe Friendly launched in March 2023, it has been embraced by more than 100 train operating companies, freight operating companies and small to large organisations working across the rail supply chain, with one goal, to ensure children receive vital education to keep them rail safe.”Businesses and organisations that want to partner with Rail Safe Friendly, or schools that want to be certified, can register their interest at www.railsafefriendly.com.