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Soroptimist Railway Project

Investigating Personal Safety While Travelling on Britain and Ireland’s Railways

Nearly thirty years ago, a Soroptimist was attacked while travelling on a train in the London area.  This incident sparked fellow Soroptimists into action and we embarked on a campaign to investigate the standards of personal safety, particularly for women, when travelling by train.

Our interest in the safety of women when travelling has continued since that original incident.  ‘The Future of the Railways’ report was first 25 years ago based on our original findings and used to lobby the Government into taking action to do more to protect women on public transport. You can read our original written evidence to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee here.

Now in 2025 we are revisiting our investigation to see how far standards of personal safety have improved.

This involves grassroots research into real-life experiences of women passengers, often speaking to station managers and staff, and visiting over 500 over-ground stations across Britain.

Naturally we are looking to see how much has improved in almost three decades. As with the original report, we will holding the railway industry to account on the changes still required to ensure the safety of women when travelling is top of mind.

Among the many areas we have been looking at:

  • Prominence and visibility of railway staff
  • Proximity and signage of emergency help points
  • Signage and quality of information
  • Accessibility and support for people with disabilities

Our 2025 Railway Project was officially launched by SIGBI’s Federation President 2024/25, and Programme Director, at the SIGBI Federation Conference in Edinburgh in October 2024. Read our press coverage here: https://scottishbusinessnews.net/womens-charity-sigbi-relaunches-railway-safety-project-on-90th-anniversary/

Read our latest article on the Railway Survey here.