London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is launching a new campaign called ‘Be Kind’, to tackle anti-social behaviour experienced by railway workers.
The Be Kind campaign, which began as an LNER initiative and now includes partners from the wider rail industry, will see members of station and onboard staff wear a range of badges to encourage people to be kind when travelling by train.
- British Transport Police figures show that offences considered as anti-social behaviour have increased by 107% in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21 (Year to date)
Featuring phrases such as ”I am someone’s mum” and ”I am someone’s brother”, the badges have been designed to humanise the wearer and remind those they interact with that they are more than ‘just a uniform’.
LNER colleagues across the East Coast route began to wear the Be Kind badges this month and will continue wearing them into the new year, as the team look to understand the impact the badges have in reducing anti-social behaviour.
In addition to the badge designs that focus on the wearer’s family relationships, there is also a range that features illustrated animals such as a lion alongside the words ‘please don’t roar at me’, to help the campaign test a number of different of approaches.
Claire Ansley, Customer Experience Director at LNER, said:
Having seen the impact that anti-social and rude behaviour can have on our customers and colleagues, it was important that we took action and formed LNER’s Be Kind campaign.
As a first step, our new range of badges are a simple way for us to support our station and onboard teams whilst out and about and we’re already seeing that they are generating a lot of positive conversations with customers.
In addition to the trial of Be Kind badges, LNER is continuing to work with other train companies to explore further ways to encourage more kindness on the railway.
