This week is Trespass Awareness Week and football clubs across the country are coming together, once again, to highlight the dangers of the railway network.
Over the past 12 months all EFL Clubs have been part of the You vs Train campaign. During this time they have successfully engaged with over 27,000 young people with face to face briefings and millions more across social media to highlight the dangers of trespass on the railway.
Trespass is one of the single biggest causes of delay on the railway network. Each year, there are around 13,500 trespass incidents, resulting in the loss of 20 – 30 lives and inflicting around 700,000 delay minutes on rail passengers affecting more than 400 trains a day.
The Trespass Improvement Programme was created in 2018 and has, since its formation, run a public awareness campaign – You Vs Train - as part of its efforts to reduce the number of trespass incidents on the rail network. Primarily targeting young people and their parents/carers/influencers, the campaign aims to inform and educate about the dangers of the railway.
At the heart of the issue is a lack of understanding and awareness of the risks. Research undertaken amongst teenagers last year found that, while most are aware that the railway is a dangerous place, most of them don’t realise quite how dangerous it is or the specific dangers they face when they step on the track.
Last year responding to the continued problem, the industry’s railway trespass group launched a new phase of the You vs. Train campaign, forming partnerships with the EFL Trust & StreetGames to drive the rail safety message directly to this hard-to-reach group.
The unique position that football clubs have in their community has helped get the message across reaching more young people than ever before.