Grand Central Rail Takes Passenger Safety Award At The UK Rail Industry Awards

Grand Central Rail has scooped the prestigious Passenger Safety award at the UK Rail Industry Awards as a result of its collaboration with Yorkshire children’s author Chris Madeley.

The partnership was recognised for its production of ‘The Cones’, a series of fictional children’s books that campaign for child safety via cartoon traffic cones. Using the motto “Cones Keep Children Safe”, the series is aimed at 4 – 7 year olds and emphasises the importance of children keeping safe on the platform.

The UK Rail Industry Awards, which took place in February 2017, celebrate excellence in practice and service in the rail industry.

The series was written based on knowledge and insights by rail safety advisors at Grand Central, who contributed extensively to the project, ensuring that children learned about safety on and around the tracks from a resource that is fun and easy to follow. The aim of the series was to provide a clear educational and advisory guide for young children, packaged in a fun story that engages with them and is memorable in the long term.

Richard McClean, Managing Director of Grand Central Rail, said “While Rail is a fanatically safe way to travel, passenger safety is of paramount importance to us and we are delighted to be recognised for this partnership that we hope will educate the next generation of train travellers in the dangers of the rail. We are pleased to have worked with such a talented local author on the project, which we hope will benefit the immediate community and beyond.”

Chris Madeley said: “It has been a fantastic experience to work with the Grand Central Rail team who take passenger safety so seriously and continue to provide an excellent level of care to their passengers. Creating ‘The Cones’ series encourages children to enjoy travelling on railways whilst educating them and their parents on how to prevent rail accidents. This award is testament to ‘The Cones’ series doing what we set out to achieve; successfully raising awareness of the dangers for rail users.”

‘The Cones series’ is now being used schools and nurseries, and has been bought by parents and grandparents to help to minimise the downside of accident, tragedy and delay.

For more information contact Grayling on 0113 273 9900 or email grandcentral@grayling.com

Notes to Editors

1. Grand Central Railway Company Limited operates West Riding services between Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross.

2. Grand Central Railway Company Limited also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London Kings Cross.

3. Grand Central topped the Autumn 2016 National Rail Passenger Survey with a satisfaction score of 91%. Grand Central was also revealed as Britain’s highest-rated long distance operator in the UK in the 2017 Which? Magazine Train Satisfaction Survey with 72% passenger satisfaction score.

4. For further information on Grand Central, and to buy tickets with no booking fee, visit www.grandcentralrail.com.