What is Community Rail?
Community rail is a movement that brings together local people, organisations and train operating companies like us to enhance the railway for the benefit of local communities. Along the Chiltern Railways network, our Community Rail Partnerships, station adoption groups and more work to make stations more welcoming and accessible, promote sustainable travel, and preserve the unique heritage of our route while looking to the future.
Working hand-in-hand with local volunteers, schools and community groups, we support initiatives that range from station gardening projects and art installations to educational programmes and special events. These partnerships not only help make our stations more vibrant and engaging spaces but also strengthen the connection between our railway and the communities we serve.
Chiltern Railways is excited to have grown its community rail activity in recent times, having supported the development and launch of Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership and providing ongoing support to all of our station adoption groups.
Chiltern Railways proudly collaborates with two Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs); the Heart of England CRP and Oxfordshire CRP. These partnerships bring together local authorities, community groups and train operating companies to make our railway more responsive to local needs and more integral to communities.
Heart of England CRP
Covering our stations from Birmingham Moor Street to Leamington Spa, the Heart of England CRP works with us on exciting projects, previously including a community-driven ‘colour palette’ project at Leamington Spa station, and more recently taking refugees on rail trips across the West Midlands to familiarise them with the rail network.
Oxfordshire CRP
Operating along our Oxford Corridor and between Banbury and Bicester North, Oxfordshire CRP. We’ve worked with Oxfordshire CRP from supporting their formation to funding some of their ongoing community outreach work such as, most recently, art exhibitions at Oxford Parkway, funded by our Community Investment Fund.
Our key schemes
Station Adoption
Find out more about our network-wide station adoption scheme, what our volunteers are up to, and how to get involved.
Community Investment Fund
Learn more about our CIF programme, supporting local community projects in their development, opening annually in April.
Get involved
Our Community Rail Partnerships always welcome new ideas. To learn more or get involved, reach out to them through their websites, or for general enquiries about our community rail initiatives, contact our community rail team on [email protected].
Community Rail Reports
Our community rail movement continues to grow, and you can learn more about how in our collection of Community Rail Reports. Our Community Rail Reports since 2022 are available for download as a PDF below.
| 2024 Edition | 2023 Edition | 2022 Edition |
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| Download and read | Download and read | Download and read |