A brand new album of songs and poems that celebrates the world’s oldest passenger railway curated by singer-songwriter Sam Slatcher launches on 14 March 2025.

This year the North East celebrates 200 years of The Stockton & Darlington Railway, the railway that began the modern passenger railway.

The album titled ‘Passengers & Pioneers’ features original songs by folk singer Sam Slatcher complimented by poems from Lizzie Lovejoy, Carmen Marcus, Rowan McCabe and Harry Gallagher.

The album is the culmination of the ‘Storylines’ project which last year saw the artists travel the line from Bishop Auckland to Saltburn gathering stories from passengers to create new pieces of work. The album has also been written using archive history from the first passenger railway journey in 1825 on the Stockton and Darlington railway.

The album itself will be released on Friday 14 March with a unique performance at The Common Room as part of the Community Rail Network’s national awards ceremony with Railway200, nationwide partnership-led campaign to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway.

Limited free tickets are available but must be booked via the Common Room website.

This launch event is free of charge and will run twice, first at 12:00-13:00 and again at 19:30- 20:30, in The Common Room Lecture Hall (Westgate Road, NE1 1SE), a 2 min walk from Newcastle Central Station.

The album tells the story of how this short line, connecting two North East towns changed the shape of the region, the country and the world. From the global experience that railways became to the ways it brings communities together today. It draws on a letter written by a 14- year-old boy to his younger sister describing his track-side view of the first journey, on news reports from the Jubilee anniversary and from testimonies of railway workers throughout the ages (from station staff to engineers to those who work on board). The songs and poetry also feature stories of passengers who commute, holiday, encounter strangers, meditate from train windows, find love, seek work, find pride and belonging and experience a sense of homecoming, on those same 26 miles of track.

The next single to be released will be ‘Set the World on Track’ on 1^st March, the final of 3 pre released singles from the album following Pioneers that released back in September 2024 and Take Me Home feat. Lizzie Lovejoy in November 2024.

The Storylines project and album were commissioned by the railway companies CrossCountry and Northern that now operate the line along with the Community Rail Network and Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership.

The album was recorded at Blank Studios in Newcastle, produced by John Martindale. Dates for the Passengers & Pioneers Summer 2025 tour across the North East will be announced soon.

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.”

The Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership is celebrating being recognition nationally for its wide range of work in the shortlist for the 2025 Community Rail Awards.

The Partnership has had three of its latest projects shortlisted in the upcoming awards:

Bishop Line Rail Education Programme – in category 1 – Involving Children and Young People – sponsored by London North Eastern Railway

Shildon Smart Art – in category 3 – Community Creative Projects & Station Arts – sponsored by Avanti West Coast

Explore the Bishop Line By Train This Summer – in category 7 – Tourism & Leisure Award – sponsored by TransPennine Express

Being shortlisted for one project is fantastic but being shortlisted for three is amazing recognition for the broad range of projects this partnership delivers in collaboration with its community and industry partners.

Winners will be announced during the awards evening on 13 March 2025 which will take place in Newcastle Upon Tyne. The event will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the community rail awards, the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and Railway 200.

You can find out more about the other amazing shortlisted entries on the Community Rail Network website. 

Our CRP was keen to support Last Train Home Festival for a second year following the success of the collaboration in 2023. The support we were able to offer then enabled the festival Organisers Tracks Darlington to increase marketing and attract more people than in previous years. They saw an increase in ticket sales of +67%. We also knew that we could help better connect the festival with the railway and attract more people to arrive by train – strikes allowing.

In 2024 we supported the festival again with the aim of attracting more people to travel by train. Again, with support from the rail industry (Northern and CrossCountry) to make the festival accessible, and deliver social value to the local community.

This year event ticket again sales increased by 37%.

We also worked with Northern to negotiated a late train to Bishop Auckland, which was received with positivity.

We were unable to hold a station stage this year due to the substantial works happening at Darlington station but hope to be able to bring this to life in 2025.

Festival Goers were surveyed and of those who responded:

• Over 90% surveyed felt the festival was a positive showcase for Tees Valley local skills, talents and businesses.
•  Over 80-% felt the festival had been helpful to their wellbeing.
• Over 75% felt the festival made them feel proud of Darlington.
• 26% arrived to the festival by train
• 55% arrived from outside the Darlington area showing that the wider marketing had an impact.

We look forward to working with Tracks Darlington again to help make Last Train Home a key event during the Bicentenary year of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the national Railway 200 celebrations.

Young children from Stanhope have experienced a very special trip by train to explore the North East’s newest attraction, Hopetown Darlington.

29 children aged between seven and nine from Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary School, Stanhope enjoyed their railway themed adventure this week, travelling almost 90km (56 miles) on two different train lines. The children caught a special Weardale Railway train from Stanhope to Bishop Auckland, then joined the Northern service to North Road.

On their journey Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership’s Rail Education Officer, Jess Young taught the children how to stay safe around the railway and how to purchase tickets so they could make the journey again with their families in the future.

Once at Hopetown Darlington they enjoyed the wonderful new exhibits in North Road Museum which tell Darlington’s story of rail engineering, ideas and invention. They even had time to explore Wagon Woods, a railway-themed adventure play park that builds on the story of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. After their day of fun, it was time to start their journey back home to Stanhope.

The trip was delivered in collaboration between Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership, Bishop Trains, Hopetown Darlington, Northern and Weardale Railway.

Mrs Deb Cross, Headteacher at Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary School commented “Our children have loved this opportunity to travel to Hopetown Darlington by train. As you can imagine, being a rural school, the transport options for school trips are limited and expensive and we often stay local. We are very lucky that Stanhope has such a rich cultural heritage and there are lots of learning opportunities in the local area, but this was a chance for our children to explore a new mode of travel for many. We are very grateful for our relationship with Weardale Railway, they are embedded in our community and the opportunities they provide to rural communities like ours are very much appreciated.”   

Felicity Machnicki, Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership commented “This is such a special trip to help make happen; families living in rural areas such as Stanhope can feel isolated and unable to access exciting experiences taking place in our larger towns and cities. This trip was a way to help the younger generation experience how our railways can help you get to some very interesting and useful places, and that often the journey itself can be as exciting as the destination. We hope the children use the new skills and knowledge they have learned today to encourage their friends and families to try taking the train and importantly stay safe when doing so.”

Miss Hunter-Purvis, Class Teacher at Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary School commented “For many of the children this was their first trip on a train. They’ve really enjoyed learning about the line, and we will use the experience to inspire future learning in the classroom.”

The Partnership has been working with Shildon Station Adopters and Locomotion, on a project to improve the experience of using Shildon Station. The footbridge is used by rail passengers and the local community to get into town. It has been neglected for many years and graffiti has made walking across it an unpleasant experience and through engagement with two local secondary schools, and the amazing skills and mentoring from local artist Dan Walls, the team have brought the bridge back to life making it an enjoyable experience to walk across.

Shildon Station had many anti-social behaviour reports including graffiti and stone throwing. The station footbridge is used by rail users, residents accessing Shildon Town and visitors to Locomotion. The experience of crossing the bridge was awful due to explicit graffiti and poor maintenance. This needed to change before 2025 when the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) will celebrate its 200^th Anniversary. Locomotion is a primary attraction on the route and one of 3 key gateways to a new 26-mile walking and cycling route and it will attract a huge number of visitors; hopefully many of them arriving by train and using the footbridge.

The project team wanted to engage local young people to help improve the experience of using the using the footbridge so it felt safer and more welcoming, to reduce anti-social behaviour and to increase community pride. By involving local young people, the project aimed to tackle anti-social behaviour peer to peer – identifying ambassador students to develop and apply the design, who would then feel supported to speak up if any future graffiti is applied to the bridge. By taking part in the project they would feel a sense of pride which they would share with their peers.

The project team secured funding from CrossCountry, Northern and the Bishop Line CRP.

Dan and our Rail Education Officer Jess along with staff from Locomotion, visited visited two Bishop Auckland based  secondary schools – St John’s Catholic College & Sixth Form and King James I Academy in March, to engage year 9 students in the project. Over several visits the students have explored the history of Shildon, the relevance of the upcoming 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, learned about rail safety and about the benefits of street art and how it can enhance a place. They then explored how it felt to use the bridge, how they would like people to feel using the bridge, and created images that represent Shildon. The students developed a set of key words to define their artwork and the designs they created are fabulous. Over 2 further sessions in each school, Dan worked with a small group of students who would become ambassadors for the artwork once complete, developing the words, symbols and images into the final artwork.

Station adopters, Bishop Line CRP officers and Northern prepared the bridge ready for the next phase. Then in the summer students worked with Dan, learning street art techniques and applying the design to the bridge.

We’ve gathered some fantastic feedback while the artwork was being added:

“Oh this is a wonderful idea and very much needed!” (NC – facebook)

“Looking forward to seeing it finished, I walk my 4 little dogs past here most days. In fact one almost got a blue nose for being too nosy while the bridge was being painted” (TB – facebook)

Claire Storey Senior Public Protection Officer and resident of Shildon commented “Congratulations for such a lovely scheme. I visit regularly and would like to try and re-create this sort of project in the subways of Newton Aycliffe as part of my work on the Community Action Team.

Cllr Samantha Townsend, Proudly Serving Shildon and the Dene Valley Villages had this to say about the project. “It’s lovely to see the project on the Shildon railway bridge. As a local councillor this bridge and the graffiti that covered it was a regular issue raised by constituents and I’d repeatedly struggled to find out how was responsible for the bridge in order to rectify it. I’m incredibly grateful to the partners who worked to get to the bottom of this issue and restore the bridge, in such a colourful creative way. We are proud people in Shildon and in the run up to the 200^th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway it means a lot to us that visitors to our town get a good first impressions when they visit by rail.”

We celebrated the completion of the artwork in July with some key project stakeholders and they had some very positive feedback to share.

Cllr Shirley Quinn, Mayor of Shildon Town Council  “I’d like to say a huge thank you all from the bottom of my heart and from the local community for all the work you have done on this project. The results are absolutely amazing, and you should be very proud of yourselves. This morning we’ve been celebrating the announcement of the plans for the S&DR 200 celebrations and the Railway 200 programme, which is all about the railways of the past present and future. And a photo of Shildon Smart Art was shown as part of the presentation to national press and media, so that has brought this project to the forefront. Our railway heritage is how we all came to be here, because of the past. But going forward the railway is going to form part of our new world. Just remember there are jobs in rail, all sorts of jobs, in the construction of things, driving the engines, train staff, office staff, there are so many jobs that are there, available for young people. So, this is the start. This is not the end of 200 years, this is the next 100 years.”

Phoebe Ackers – Community & Engagement Lead and Director of Learning for Art & Photography at King James I Academy “Having the opportunity to work on the project was an absolute honour. We took the whole cohort of year 9 students and explored the theme of pride in our community.  Dan and the team worked with them to develop ideas and feelings around the area and encouraged the sense of pride from being where they are from. Throughout the day our students designed their own bridge ideas based on key words relating to the Shildon Area. From then, we chose 4 local students to complete the artwork who will be ambassadors for the local area, encouraging their peers to take pride in where they are from. They have done an absolutely amazing job & take pride in the work they have done. Our school has been a buzz since the project and we are regularly getting feedback from other local students on how the bridge has been transformed.”

Dan Walls – Illumination Wall Art “I’m so grateful to be involved in this project. I travel by train frequently and it has always been an enjoyable experience. To have this opportunity to share my art and celebrate 200 years of rail travel is such an honour. The positivity from the people of Shildon has been enormous I hope we have inspired some local pride. I want to say a huge thank you to the young artists at King James I Academy and St John’s for all their help and to the Locomotion museum.”

Pam Porter – Operations and Events Manager, Locomotion “Locomotion is proud to be part of the Station Adopter team at Shildon Station. By working in partnership on the Shildon Smart Art project, we were able to reach out to local young people to tell the exciting story of Shildon’s links to the earliest days of the rail industry, and to talk about the opportunities which the railway could offer them now and in the future. The final artwork has had a significant positive impact on the station environment, and has been extremely well received by the local community and museum visitors.”

Marie Addison – Northern Community & Sustainability Manager – North East “I’d like to say a huge thank you on behalf of Northern Trains who manage this station, this bridge was awful, and look at it now. I didn’t realise how busy this bridge was! We had such positivity on the days when we were here painting it, from the people that were using the bridge, walking their dogs, walking with their children, everyone has something positive to say about it. And they were all saying thank you as well, which is so lovely. This is a huge addition to the station it really is, and I hope to replicate this at other stations.”

Charlie Walton – Vice Chair of the Bishop Line CRP “We’ve been campaigning to get the station bridge artwork done for a number of years, our main focus was to ensure that this bridge was a proper gateway to Shildon, Shildon being the first railway town in the world and the home of the national railway museum. So, its very important generally, but more particularly next year, when we hope to get thousands of visitors coming to see the museum, that the station is up to par. And you guys have done a marvellous job with this, and absolutely superb job, I applaud you all, it shows a little bit of innovation in Shildon that I’m sure Timothy Hackworth would have been proud of.”

We hope you love it as much as we do.

Well done everyone!

The Community Rail Network has published its latest report highlighting The Value of Community Rail.

The report demonstrates the significant social value being delivered by community rail and shows how the movement has developed into an integral part of rail’s offer to local communities. It also shows the positive recovery of passenger journeys on lines linked to CRPs after the challenges of the pandemic.

Have a look through to see some fantastic projects delivered across some of the 75 Community Rail Partnerships in the UK.

The projects featured show how CRPs contribute to the four pillars of the community rail strategy:

1. Providing a voice for communities
2. Promoting sustainable, healthy and accessible travel
3. Bringing communities together and supporting diversity and inclusion and
4. Supporting social and economic development.

You’ll recognise a Bishop Line project on page 28 – the path connecting Bishop Auckland Station and Weardale Railway’s platform, enabling many people to access the heritage services straight from the Northern Services on the Bishop Line.

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.

This summer be an explorer and take the train to discover the fantastic attractions and events along the Bishop Line. From the new Hopetown Attraction at North Road Station to New Hall at Locomotion, and everywhere in between.

Find out more about what’s happening along our line this summer!

Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership brought together its many rail industry partners to inspire 180 students from primary schools in Bishop Auckland, Shildon and Darlington and prepare them for safe, independent train travel.

The event took place on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th June at Locomotion, Shildon and aimed to tackle the growing problem of trespass on the railway through safety-based activities.

The year six students enjoyed a carousel of activities delivered by railway professionals covering rail safety, journey planning, mental well-being and driver experience. They heard first-hand what it’s like to work in the rail industry from drivers, staff in customer services, those behind the scenes in roles like train performance plus they met community rail representatives who help connect the railways to the communities they serve. And for a hands-on experience, they explored the tools and vehicles used by colleagues and officers of Network Rail and British Transport Police who work to keep us all safe on the railway.

Sessions were delivered by British Transport Police, CrossCountry, Network Rail, Northern and the Railway Children charity and the event was supported by Community Rail Network, ISS, LNER, Locomotion, Shildon Station Adopters, TransPennine Express, Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership and Weardale Railway.

The students arrived by train where they could and used their rail safety knowledge on their journey to and from the event. Etherley Lane Primary School in Bishop Auckland, Northwood Primary School in Darlington and St George’s CE Academy in Middleton St George came on the Northern service from Dinsdale, North Road and Bishop Auckland Stations, whilst St John’s CE (Aided) Primary School in Shildon is close to Locomotion so they were able to enjoy the sunny walk to the event.

Jess Young, Rail Education Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership comments “It was fantastic to give so many young people the opportunity to embed their learning around these vitally important rail safety messages. Meeting rail professionals in person and gaining an insight into their roles will be a lasting experience for these students; one they will recall when making independent rail-safe choices. They have gained confidence as rail users and I’m sure many of them will also have been inspired to consider rail as a possible career option for the future”.

Felicity Machnicki, Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership said, “This event is a fantastic example of the rail industry all working together to address national issues such as trespass, low travel confidence and mental wellbeing challenges, in a welcoming community setting. Our Partnership has strong links and we’re glad to be able to bring together representatives from all our industry partners to leave a lasting impact on the young people in our local community, hopefully making them more confident to make safe travel choices.”

She added “The event is in its second year and its geographical reach has increased. Initially we focused on schools around Darlington and North Road in response to specific trespass issues, this year we have included Bishop Auckland, and we intend to involve more schools from along the line at future events.”