There are many statistics associated with the Covid-19 national lockdown. One that worried many is this; In the first month of lockdown, trespassing on Britain’s railways increased by 25%.

Incidents were reported in our areas involving young people, one as young as 6 years old. New data reveals that when the national lockdown was first lifted in July 2020 there was a shocking 138% increase in trespass incidents along the East Coast route.

During lockdown the Community Rail Education Network, which is is a collective of community rail partnerships from across the UK took on the challenge to tackle trespassing. The network worked with the rail industry to run a national competition to reduce the high number of trespassing reports on the railway.  This award-winning competition launched during lockdown in 2020, and returns in 2022 for its third year.

The Backtrack Competition has gained huge support across the industry. The competition was also supported by community rail partnerships and many industry stakeholders which was fantastic. In 2022 our aim is to spread the Backtrack message further.

This year there are even more young people trespassing on our railways. Especially those doing so for likes and shares on social media. It’s dangerous and can cause death or serious injury. So this year we are asking young people to create a simple, but powerful, message to make others aware of the dangers of trespassing and to encourage them to stop.  The competition will be shared in schools, youth groups and online.

We’ve made it even simpler to enter this year, we’re asking entrants to do 2 things:

No 1. Film themselves explaining why they pledge to not trespass on the railway.

No.2 Design a small graphic sharing 1 rail safety message which can be shared on social media.

Then upload their entry on to the competition website where there are  tips for creating an entry, railway facts and information about prizes.

Plus share their entries on social media to help spread the word!

To find out more about the competition this year and to find out how to enter visit the Backtrack website.

Return to recent projects