Rail staff save over 1,000 from taking their own lives

More than 1,100 people were saved from committing suicide in 2015-16 by railway staff, police officers and members of the public.

New statistics from Network Rail revealed that 252 people committed suicide on the railway in 2015-16. This is a 12% reduction on the previous year, bucking the national trend. However, 80% of the deaths were men.

The railway has pledged to work together to tackle the issue, which includes talking about suicide, especially with men. Suicide has been highlighted as the biggest killer of UK men aged under 50.

NR Chief Executive Mark Carne, also the deputy chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, chaired a meeting at London Euston regarding the subject. He said: “Any death on the railway is a tragedy which has a real emotional impact on the family and friends involved, and on our staff and customers. It’s a complex issue which the whole of society needs to work together to address.

“A large proportion of my 36,000-stong workforce are men, and I want them to know its OK to talk - we must break down the taboo of talking about suicide. If anyone feels like they need support, it’s OK to ask for help.”

The roundtable meeting featured representatives from the Department of Health, British Transport Police, Samaritans, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Rethink and NR. They discussed ways to drive down suicide rates further, the progress to date, and what could be done differently in the future.

The rail industry has vowed to support Government plans for a 10% reduction in suicides by 20202021, and the roundtable called for appropriate resources to be made available. More than 11,000 NR staff and BTP officers have been trained to help prevent suicide.