During the pandemic the partnership gave out free ‘friendly’ face coverings to passengers. They aimed to help increase passenger confidence when the government advised that people may use public transport where walking or cycling is not possible.

As the world started to open up again, and many of the population had been vaccinated, the number of people travelling by train along the Bishop Line began to increase, the partnership asked passengers to be mindful of fellow travellers.

During the past year passengers classed as key or essential workers have continued to use the train and have grown comfortable doing so, however passengers who have been shielding, homeworking or just not needed to travel, may find it daunting returning to train travel. This is where the partnership is asked for the help of its passengers to make everyone’s journey as friendly and comfortable as possible.

Through 2020 and 2021, and to coincide with World Mental Heath Day 2020 we ran a campaign to promote the benefits of smiling which we named Pass on a smile.

Pass on a Smile achieved 2nd Place for most effective communications campaign in the 2022 Community Rail Awards.

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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.

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Shildon in Motion started in July 2019 with funding from Northern Heartlands. The aim was to create a vibrant welcome to Shildon Station.

The project, led by Katy Milne of Greenfield Arts and brought to life by artists Nicola Golightly and Sally Pilkington demonstrates true community collaboration.

Nicola and Katy visited a number of public venues around Shildon and met with people to gather perspectives about Shildon’s past, present and future. The conversations then informed the projects design and translated into new artwork across the station to celebrate and highlight the extraordinary aspects of Shildon and its people.

You can now see the fantastic bright and uplifting artwork around the station.

To find out more about the project and to see the launch film please visit the Shildon in Motion Website.

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In summer 2017 the partnership commissioned research to gather opinions about the Bishop Line service from users and non-users. 61% of train users surveyed said that they would be more likely to use the service more often if the service were more frequent during the day.

Following the research, discussions took place with Northern to put an hourly service into place and in December 2017 the hourly service was launched.

As a result the partnership wanted to shout about this success. So from December 2017 the ‘Hourly Service’ campaign began with the aim of increasing awareness of the improvements and ultimately get more people travelling on the Bishop Line.

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“I never met my great grandmother Nora, but she hovers around the edges of my mother’s memory.  A tiny woman, she died when my mam was about 7. She remembers her baby teeth coming out at the time.  Nora’s story is woven into the landscape that you travel through from Darlington to Bishop Auckland on the train.”

In summer 2017, a team from Hannah Bruce & Co and commissioners, Luxi, spent time travelling the route and chatting to local people about their lives and family memories, and those brilliant stories went into the creation of a script. Hannah and her collaborators mixed it into an audio story which was designed to be listened to through headphones on the Bishop Line train from Darlington to Bishop Auckland.

Our Line, is a story of a modern day project to find out more about the family members of the past and how the railways changed the lives of families in the area. It’s inspired by the fond memories and family legends collected from local people.

During the pandemic when train travel was only for essential journeys, Our Line was amended to enable it to be accessed from home and we encouraged listeners to take time out of their busy lives to use Our Line as a mindfulness tool.

To listen to Our Line please visit the www.our-line.net.

In 2022 we are taking Our Line Connections out to our communities to spark memories, creativity and connections. Look out for updates on www.our-line.net soon.

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