White Ribbon Day: Train boss speaks out ahead of industry event about gender-based violence on the railway

Speaking on White Ribbon Day (25 November), Matt Rice said Northern’s work with Women’s Aid and Rail to Refuge was a great start – but that there was “much more to be done”.

It comes ahead of his participation in a rail industry event organised by White Ribbon - the UK’s leading charity campaigning to end violence against women and girls – to discuss the issue.

The event, which takes place on Friday 6 December (10.30am – 11.30am), will be chaired by the charity’s chief executive, Anthea Sully.

For more information and details of how to register, click here.

Matt Rice, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “It’s shocking that 70% of women in the UK say they have experienced various forms of sexual harassment in public.

“The rail network is no different to other public arenas in facing this problem – and here at Northern we have invested heavily in enhanced CCTV at stations and on-board our trains to make customers feel safe – but we can all do more.”

Earlier this year, Northern revealed it had established a network of specially trained staff to help victims of ‘unwanted sexual behaviour’ (USB) on the railway.

Based at locations including Blackpool, Darlington, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Preston and York, they help signpost colleagues who experience ‘USB’ to the support services available and encourage them to report incidents to the police.

Rice added: “Everyone should be free to go about their day without feeling unsafe, violated or intimidated and I’m grateful to all my colleagues in this network for playing their part in helping to eradicate this behaviour and making the railway a safer place for women and girls.”

Rice, who joined the train operator earlier this year, will speak at the White Ribbon event alongside Andrew Haines and Stuart Calvert from Network Rail and Charlie Doyle from British Transport Police.

Northern has previously called for its customers to download the British Transport Police ‘Railway Guardian’ app - an all-in-one safety app that allows users to report crimes or concerns on the rail network, share journeys with trusted contacts and get access to news, guides and support. It is available to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Anyone with information about any crime on the railway can contact British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.