33 mins
On the rails
IT’S happened to us all at some point.
‘Train delayed due to incident on the line.’
It’s a cause of nuisance and perhaps a source of irritation as we have to call people and say we’ll be late or make other arrangements.
But for a small group of railway workers, that’s the time they swing into action – and their job is not entirely what you might expect.
“Sometimes that ‘incident’ is a suicide – or an accident on the line – it means someone has been killed, and that can mean not just annoyance for people whose journeys have been afected, but terrible trauma for the driver who has witnessed the accident and sometimes even passengers on the train when it happened.
“The Railway Mission are there for all afected,” says Ruth McBean. “We work with the station managers, staf and guards who are likely to be irst on the scene of an accident or a suicide and we work with any passengers who might be witnesses or upset by the incident.”
Ruth covers the east coast of Scotland and has colleagues who are responsible for the west coast and the north too.
“My background is in sport and leisure management though I’ve always had a strong faith and attend a community church just outside Edinburgh. When I was made redundant from my previous post, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I found myself very drawn to chaplaincy, becoming a volunteer workplace chaplain and then, over the next few months, spotted the advert for a chaplain with the Railway Mission. It seemed too much of a coincidence.”
“It is a very diverse role – involving a lot of travelling and being able to largely manage my own time. We do so much work, principally with the staf and other professionals who work with the Railways – station staf, drivers, conductors, management and the British Transport Police. We also lead discussions, groups and seminars, and are involved with suicide prevention and run ‘conversation cafes’ – anything that will help people talk about their feelings after an accident on the lines and their own mental health” “We are there primarily to support not just the workers, but people who have been afected by an accident on the line. I like to ‘demystify’ the whole role and support – never judge, ix, or convert, we are here for people with faith or no faith.
“I’m there to listen, to care and to show Jesus’ love.
“Drivers often see an accident or a suicide coming from a long way of, and due to the nature and speed of trains, can do nothing about it. That’s incredibly traumatic.
“Railway workers and railway police often have to pick up body parts after an accident on the line and that is very stressful.
Without a way, like us, where they can talk through their feelings, their fears, their emotions and that stress, people can break down and be overwhelmed.
“I was on holiday recently and while I was away there were three deaths in my area.
“Thankfully, it’s not an everyday occurrence in Scotland, although the statistics in the UK, show one suicide every 31 hours, however within the same time there have been two interventions”
“And it’s not just exterior deaths. We have had passengers who have died during a journey – and then you can have a carriage full of people who are very upset and are having to cope with an entirely natural, but unexpected occurrence while just on their way to work in the morning.
Meanwhile, Moss Barclay and his team of ‘Rail Pastors’ are the irst of their kind in Scotland.
It is a spin-of from the Street Pastors movement that is widespread throughout Scotland.
“In Dunfermline, we as street pastors patrol a very unique circular route – we call it our ‘Jericho Road’. When we heard about the rail pastors working in England, we realised we had a Fife Circular Rail route right here on our doorstep. We were asked to set up a pilot project in conjunction with British Transport Police, and the Ascension Trust Scotland, Network Rail and ScotRail.
We couldn’t do it alone so we called for help from other initiatives in Fife, from Levenmouth, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath – as well as two volunteers from Edinburgh.
“We tailor our approach to rail pastors exactly the same as we do on the streets of our towns. We take similar resources – blankets, slip on lip lops etc so that we can show God’s love in action in practical ways.
First Scottish Rail Pastors 23 September 2017
“Network Rail gave us the stationmaster’s kitchen at Inverkeithing station to use as a base and we gather there before a patrol and a brieing and prayer before setting out onto the trains. We were also given a safe space at Waverley Station where we have refreshments and fill in our logs.
“We are there as volunteers to help passengers. That’s the main diference between what we do and the Railway Mission’s work.
“We currently have 12 Rail Pastors and go out in teams of four one Saturday a month.
We get training from Network Rail who use the Samaritans Expertise to help us look out for potential suicides or people in a crisis situation – or even just vulnerable people travelling on the trains.” One such person was a single mum with two young children who was stranded at customer services one evening after missing her last train. We were able to find her a room for the night, put her in a taxi and helped her sort our her travel for the next day. It’s a small thing – but for that lady and her children, it was terribly distressing and vital she got help.
“Football crowds keep us busy – and after one Tartan Army excursion, we picked up more than 16 bottles all outside the station’s main entrance. Broken bottles can be a source of danger when drunken crowds are around – either from ighting or falling on them. It’s part of our work at Street Pastors to safely dispose of any glass bottles or glasses we see lying around.
“Since we started in Scotland, we’ve had observers from Street Pastor groups in the west looking at what we’re doing, and two new Rail Pastors groups are in the pipeline.
We are so grateful to the work of the Guild who chose the Street Pastors as one of their supported projects over the last three years. It’s funding that has been very important to our work.
“We complement the work of the Railway Mission, and we are able to help both the general public and the staf who work on the trains.
Ruth McBean
Since we started in Scotland, we’ve had observers from Street Pastor groups in the west looking at what we’re doing, and two new Rail Pastors groups are in the pipeline.
“Thanks to our distinctive uniforms, people know they can approach us – one man recently asked me for prayerful help concerning his travel arrangements – so they know it doesn’t have to be a big life or death moment. We are there to spread God’s love and that extends to all areas of our lives.”
This article appears in the April 2018 Issue of Life and Work
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