Sustainability
Britain’s railways are committed to sustainability. With faster, quieter and much more environmentally friendly electric trains, travelling by rail is now one of the most sustainable forms of transport, second only to walking and cycling. The rail industry has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Here at the ESSCRP, we are also doing our bit to help the environment at our stations and beyond. In an effort to reduce the use of single-use plastics on our event trains, we have recently transformed our Bucket and Spade trains into the new Seaside Special. This change removes the need for plastic buckets and spades and encourages visitors to make use of the beach libraries in Walton-on-the-Naze.
Visitors enjoying the Award Winning Wrabness Bee Friendly Garden in the sunshine
We are committed to supporting Network Rail’s pledge to protect and enhance nature along the railway, helping wildlife and habitats thrive. By caring for and improving these spaces, we can play our part in increasing biodiversity across the rail network by 2035.
We are fortunate to work with fantastic organisations such as the Bee Friendly Trust, who help us create beautiful station planters that provide valuable food sources for pollinators. They also do a wonderful job of raising awareness about the importance of bees and the role they play in our environment.
Did you know there are more than 250 species of bee in the UK? These include solitary bees such as the Mason bee, which often nests in walls and crevices, honeybees that live and work together in hives, and bumblebees, which commonly make their homes underground.
Unfortunately, bee populations are under increasing pressure from habitat loss, climate change and the use of pesticides. We can all help by choosing pollinator-friendly plants in our gardens and community spaces.
The Dry Garden in front of Dovercourt Station
In 2023, we launched our seed exchange with our volunteer station adopters. As different plants are grown at each station, we thought it would be a great idea to share seeds with other adopters and members of the public, allowing even more wonderful plants and flowers to be grown from seed.
The initiative proved a great success and continues to grow across the Greater Anglia network.
A home for insects, one of the many bug hotels at our stations
We have also worked with the Royal Horticultural Society to provide information to our volunteers about what to plant in a changing climate. With rising temperatures and less water available in summer, many of our station adopters have created Mediterranean dry gardens to bring diversity to their stations. Some have even started herb gardens for rail travellers to pick from.
There are six million trees across the rail network in the UK, and the plants and trees along the tracks form green corridors for wildlife. By creating gardens and planters at our stations, our volunteer station adopters help extend that biodiversity into the stations themselves. Can you spot the bug hotels and bird boxes created by our station adopters and local men’s sheds at some of the stations along your route?
Artwork
We engage with community groups to create artwork at their local stations, helping to transform railway spaces into welcoming community hubs. These projects give people of all ages the opportunity to celebrate local heritage, culture and creativity, while creating a stronger sense of pride in their station.
From murals and information boards to decorative features and exhibitions, the artwork helps tell the story of the local area and creates a more attractive environment for passengers and visitors alike. Through these partnerships, stations become places that reflect and showcase the communities they serve.