Bishop Line CRP is currently collaborating with 2 local organisations to make small steps to help tackle the issue of suicide in our area, one of those organisations is Darlington Mind.

The partnership helped Darlington Mind to secure funding from the CommunityRail Network and CrossCountry to create a Rail Themed Mental Health Trail which would be situated in Darlington town centre during Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 with the support of Darlington Borough Council events team.

Darlington Mind engaged with local groups and artists to design and decorate 25 2D wooden cutouts of trains which a relevant to Darlington’s heritage –  Locomotion No 1, Derwent, Tornado, Mallard, Prince of Wales, there were 5 of each train. Each of the trains were decorated in a design which related to one of the mental health 5 ways to wellbeing – Connect, Take notice, Learn, Give and Be active.

They then created a mindfulness trail around Darlington town centre during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2025, based on the S&DR200 theme, featuring the decorated trains.

The decorated trains were located in indoor locations with an explanation board beside each train featuring the project overview and a link to find out more about Mind, and the 5 ways to wellbeing.

The text alongside each train drew together information about the locomotive, the five ways to wellbeing and the artists inspiration to present an appealing and informative trail to promote both better Mental Health and S&DR200.

Now the trail has closed the trains are being weather proofed and they will be relocated to various locations throughout the year, along with their boards. We hope the first location will be Hopetown Darlington,  followed by Locomotion, and then along the S&DR walking & cycling trail when it opens, and potentially at stations, so the messaging will live for the whole year and possibly longer.

So look out for them!

Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership has collaborated with its many partners to host a Rail Safety and Careers Event for local Secondary School Students.

Over 100 Year 8 students from secondary schools along the Bishop Line attended the event at Locomotion. They spent the day learning about rail safety and potential careers in the rail industry so they not only could become rail safety ambassadors but also be inspired to consider rail when choosing their GCSE options.

They engaged in interactive sessions covering rail safety with virtual reality headsets and drones, potential rail careers and understanding their personality with a MySkills quiz, looking after their mental well-being, designing anti-trespass messaging and understanding the impact of anti-social behaviour.

There was even an opportunity for all the students to find out what it’s like to work in the rail industry from Drivers, Travel Safe Officer and British Transport Police Officers, as well as those behind the scenes in roles like train performance, planning and strategy.

They also met representatives from local colleges who introduced the students to relevant courses to access roles in the rail industry.

The world-famous Flying Scotsman even made an appearance, but it was fair to say that four-month-old trainee police dog, Bruce, stole the show!

Jess Young, Rail Education Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership said, “I hope that the pupils now have an understanding of the reasons why they need to stay safe around the railway and why that’s so important, and help us to spread that message, but also that they realise the breadth of career opportunities within the rail industry and that they go away today thinking – I didn’t know that role existed in rail and actually that really inspires me, and I’ve met somebody today who does that role and I can see myself in that role in the future.”

A film of the event is below, please watch it and share it.

A huge thanks to all those that supported the event – Bishop Auckland College, British Transport Police, CAF Rail, Community Rail Network, CrossCountry, Darlington College, Illumination Wall Art, Locomotion, Lonely Tower Film & Media, LNER, Network Rail, Northern, North East Combined Authority, the Railway Children charity, Shildon Station Adopters, TransPennine Express, Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership and Weardale Railway.

The Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership (CRP) is delighted to announce Paul Winstone as its new Chair. Paul joins the Partnership on an Interim basis to assist the partnership with a task & finish review of its governance. He is an engineer and has experience of governance with charities in our region.

Bishop Line CRP has been accredited by the Department for Transport every year since accreditation was introduced in 2019. During its 2023 accreditation meeting the Partnership identified that, to grow and diversify its membership it would be beneficial to review its governance, policies and processes and ensure the operation of the Partnership is fitting for 2025 and beyond.

Paul Winstone, Interim Chair for the Bishop Line CRP comments “It’s an exciting time for me, during the preparations for Railway 200, to promote the benefits of the Bishop Line by engaging with the community whilst pursuing my love of riding on railway for business and leisure.”

Paul was selected from some very strong candidates, and the Partnership’s Steering Group was pleased to attract such applications to a voluntary role.

Felicity Machnicki, Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership commented “Our Partnership has a track record of delivering engaging, impactful projects along the Bishop Line. With so many opportunities to deliver a wide variety of projects and activities which benefit the diverse communities along our line, we need governance which helps give our work meaningful direction. I look forward to working with Paul and the Steering Group to shape that vision and build a programme of work which delivers impact where it’s needed.”

Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership is looking to recruit an interim volunteer chairperson who has the enthusiasm and drive to support the CRP through a task and finish review of the partnership’s governance until 31^st March 2025.

We are seeking an individual who brings strong experience of governance to work with the partnership’s steering group and offer support and direction to the partnership officer to review and update key partnership documents and processes.

The individual should be able to effectively set the agenda and chair steering group meetings and be able to work with all partners to ensure the continued success of the CRP.

New expressions of interest to be received by 15th November 2024. 

If you are interested in this voluntary role and feel you can demonstrate you have the characteristics below and proven experience required, please email chair@bishopline.org . Please include a statement of interest highlighting your suitability for this role and how you would approach the interim role’s governance review. If you would like an informal chat about the role with a partnership member please also email chair@bishopline.org and we can put you in touch with a representative.

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Key characteristics and requirements of the Interim Volunteer Chairperson:

 1. Characteristics required for the task and finish review of the partnership’s governance:

• Proven strong experience of governance.
• Proven leadership skills and a willingness to lead this partnership.
• Proven Collaborative working/Team building.
• Enthusiasm/drive.

 2. Additional characteristics beneficial to chair the CRP:

• Commitment to attend and give full attention to meetings and matters of partnership business.
• Advantageous to have experience of the rail industry, community development or sustainable travel.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Impartiality, fairness, and the ability to respect confidences.
• Ability to ensure decisions are taken and then actions followed-up.

3. Requirements to ensure the partnership functions properly:

• Meet with the CRP Officer on a monthly basis to check progress on each element of the action plan, to provide any support needed to overcome any challenges.
• Ensure meeting matters are dealt with in an orderly, efficient manner, actions are taken, carefully considered decisions are made and to arrange for accurate minutes to be recorded.
• Bring impartiality and objectivity to meetings.
• Facilitate change and address conflict within the steering group.
• Review governance performance and skills.
• Ensure the steering group has representation from all partners and communities covered

 4. Requirements to ensure the steering group is managed effectively:

• Coordinate with the CRP Officer and secretary quarterly regarding steering group meeting agendas and ensure meetings are run in accordance with the Constitution.
• Ensure financial reports, progress reports and metrics are circulated to steering group members at least 7 days before the quarterly steering group meetings by the CRP Officer/Secretary
• Ensure the CRP is meeting its contractual obligations with funding partners and vice versa
• Ensure the CRP Code of Conduct is always being adhered to

5. Requirements to represent the organisation:

• Act as an ambassador and effectively communicate the vision and purpose of the community rail partnership to external partners in the rail industry, public sector bodies and the media at external meetings and events.
• Be aware of current issues in rail and local communities that might affect the organisation.

 Time Commitment:  The role of interim voluntary chair requires an estimated average commitment of 8 hours/month.  These hours will be Monday – Friday during the working day, however there may be a few occasions where events are in the evening or at weekends.

Additional opportunities – There will be the opportunity to attend additional events such as the Community Rail Network (CRN) awards, CRN chair meetings and industry conferences/webinars and training can be made available through CRN.

The Auckland Project has launched a special Annual Pass discount for visitors travelling to Bishop Auckland by rail, to coincide with the Bishop Auckland Food Festival Weekend from 22-23 April 2023.

Rail travellers can enjoy 10% off the cost of a full-price Annual Pass at The Auckland Project on presentation of a valid rail ticket, which must be shown on arrival at any of The Auckland Project’s visitor attractions.

The Auckland Project Annual Pass costs £25 for adults, £12.50 for children, £37.50 for a family with one adult and £62.50 for a family with two adults. Up to four children can gain entry with a family pass and children under 5 go free.

To receive the discount, visitors must present:

• A Weardale Railway ticket, valid for any destination along the Weardale Railway line and for any travel date (including past or future travel)
• OR a rail ticket (either digital or paper) issued by an approved operator, valid for travel on the same date as the Annual Pass is being purchased with Bishop Auckland as the end destination.

This offer is only available in person and can be redeemed at Auckland Tower, Auckland Castle, the Spanish Gallery or the Mining Art Gallery.

Edward Perry, CEO of The Auckland Project, said: “The railway station in Bishop Auckland is a great asset for the town, connecting Bishop Auckland with the East Coast mainline at Darlington as well as linking Bishop Auckland with communities in the Durham Dales via Weardale Railway.

“We hope that many visitors will take advantage of this offer by travelling to Bishop Auckland by rail and exploring The Auckland Project’s diverse range of attractions.”

The special discount for rail travellers will run until further notice.

The offer does not apply to the already discounted local annual pass for DL4 and DL14 postcodes.