25,000 rail staff trained by Samaritans to save lives

A partnership between Samaritans, Network Rail and the wider rail industry has trained more than 25,000 staff to identify and help vulnerable people inside and outside the rail network.

In the past year, rail staff have helped more than 650 people, potentially saving their lives. The milestone achievement of training so many staff means more than one in five rail industry personnel have taken part in Samaritans’ ‘Managing Suicidal Contacts’ course. 

Since the partnership started in 2010, Samaritans has run around 1,900 courses around Britain to give rail staff the confidence and skills to look out for vulnerable people and teaching them how to start a conversation to get them to safety and onto further support.

The charity also offers a Trauma Support Training course aimed at drivers and driver managers to support staff who may have experienced traumatic incidents and look after their own mental health.

Mobile Security Officer Karl from Lingwood Security Management in partnership with NR was the 25,000th delegate to do Samaritans suicide prevention training, and three weeks after his course this year helped to save a man’s life. 

He said: ‘My colleague and I were patrolling one of our train stations and we noticed a man sat down in the platform shelter. He was leant over and had his head in his arms crying. We went over and asked him if he was alright, and he said ‘no I’m upset, I don’t want to be here anymore’ - so I knew we had to stay with him and try and help him. We were talking for about 20 or 30 minutes, but he was shivering. I said he could get warm inside my truck round the corner. He was hesitant at first, but he agreed to come with us. He didn’t stop crying the whole time we were with him. We called for an ambulance and just before he got in, he threw his arms around me and thanked me and my colleague. I was so happy that we saved a life that day and that’s thanks to the Samaritans course.’

Samaritans Head of Rail Programme Olivia Cayley said ‘We’re so grateful to the rail industry and inspired by their commitment to look out for others every day and save lives. 

‘This milestone is a testament to our invaluable 12-year partnership. We’re always looking for more ways to adapt and provide further support to rail staff, giving them the skills and building their confidence. We worked hard over the pandemic years to move our training online to reach staff virtually and are developing guidance for those that may be handling conversations with vulnerable people in remote social media or customer service roles.  

‘We know the pandemic has had a huge impact on the nation’s mental health and that will be felt for a long time – but suicide is preventable, and it’s everybody’s business. So please get in touch if you’d like to learn more and build those skills that you use every day – simply talking and looking out for passengers safety – which could save a life.’

Finally, NR suicide prevention and trespass lead Louise McNally added: ‘Suicide is not inevitable and thanks to the work of the rail industry and our partners like Samaritans we have made significant strides tackling these tragic events on and around the railways. This 25,000 milestone is a fantastic achievement and we look forward to seeing even more lives positively impacted as a result of the wide range of training options available to rail industry staff to identify and support vulnerable people.’