Next stop – a more inclusive and representative railway!

Last Thursday saw the launch of the Next Stop - Your Future,  an exciting new cross-sector development initiative, funded by Great British Railways Transition Team and led by Rail Unites for Inclusion Co-Chairs, Apeksha Naik and Odis Palmer. Key-note speakers included Rufus Boyd, GBRTT's Lead Director and Martin Thayne, our People & Culture Director.

The nine-month programme is designed specifically for non-managers from underrepresented groups within the industry, marking a first-of-its-kind non-management pan-industry programme to foster inclusivity and diversity across our sector.

"This programme is about ensuring broad inclusivity, including participants with a wide range of lived experiences, fostering diverse representation across the railway," said Apeksha.

"We are proud to have the involvement of learners, managers, mentors and executive sponsors from across twenty industry organisations, including train operators, Rail Delivery Group, and Network Rail, creating a truly industry-wide initiative."

Odis added: "This will empower learners with new skills and experiences, which they can then bring back to their teams to drive positive change both within their organisations and across the industry."

Speaking at the launch event, GBRTT Lead Director, Rufus Boyd said: “This exciting programme forms part of a huge and broader cultural change in the sector that I really care about.

“If we are to be everything that this current government wants from the railway, with its freshness and its newness and its diversity – then programmes like this really are going to make a huge difference and attribute to our collective successes.”