Andy Munns
SOUTH Western Railway has launched a major new campaign – called All Aboard.
The campaign’s aim is to tackle discrimination and abuse on the railway and affirm that everyone is welcome on its network.
SWR believes that no one should face discrimination or abuse of any kind on its trains, at its stations, or anywhere else on the railway and takes a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour in all its forms.
The All Aboard campaign encourages anyone who experiences or witnesses discrimination or abuse to report it by texting the British Transport Police on 61016 or calling 999 in an emergency.
Reports to the BTP can also be made using the Railway Guardian app.
The campaign is backed by a new YouGov survey, commissioned by SWR, which reveals that:
10% of the public has been subjected to discrimination or abuse by a fellow passenger while travelling by train.
15% of the public has witnessed another passenger be subjected to discrimination or abuse by a fellow passenger while travelling by train.
While 52% of the British public say they are likely to report such discrimination or abuse, 56% are unclear about how to report it, and a further 11% say they don’t know if they are clear (two-thirds of the public in total).
Among those who say they are unlikely to or who don’t know if they would report it, the most common reason is being unclear on how to do so (47% giving this reason).
SWR launches All Aboard at the start of National Inclusion Week, a week dedicated to celebrating inclusion and taking action to create inclusive workplaces, with the ambition of making the railway a more welcoming and safer place for everyone.
Posters promoting the campaign will appear on trains and at stations across the network, alongside special announcements and social media posts. This will be accompanied by an internal campaign aimed at ensuring all SWR colleagues are free from discrimination and abuse at work.
Stuart Meek, Chief Operating Officer of South Western Railway, commented: “Discrimination and abuse have no place on the railway or anywhere else in society.
“We want our customers to know that everyone is welcome on SWR, and we urge anyone who is subjected to or witnesses discrimination or abuse to report it to the BTP by texting 61016.
“This polling shows that one in ten of the public has been subjected to discrimination or abuse by a fellow passenger on the railway, and 15% has witnessed it. This is totally unacceptable, and we want to tackle it.
“It is encouraging that the public is likely to want to report such incidents, but the polling also shows that most of the public doesn’t know how to. Our All aboard campaign is all about raising that awareness so we can get to a point where no one faces discrimination or abuse on the railway.”
