• Rail Week runs 27 June to 3 July
• Aims to encourage students and young people to think about a career in rail
• Public events at London Waterloo and Portsmouth & Southsea stations
• Rail Week brings together everyone in the rail industry and is led by Young Rail Professionals

South West Trains and Network Rail will be marking the first ever Rail Week by inviting the public along to events at London Waterloo and Portsmouth & Southsea stations this week.

Rail Week is led by Young Rail Professionals and brings together all parts of the rail industry; including passenger train companies, Network Rail, freight operators and others to inspire young people at schools, colleges and universities and encourage them to consider a career in the rail industry.

The railway to and from London Waterloo is one of the busiest in Europe, providing half a million journeys every day and supporting thousands of businesses and communities along the route. London Waterloo is also the busiest station in the UK, with just under 100million passengers in 2014/15.

Over the next three years, over £800million will be invested to provide space for 30% more passengers during the busiest times of the day. This is the biggest investment on this network for decades and will make a real difference to hundreds of thousands of journeys every day.

To help deliver this investment and provide journeys for passengers, South West Trains and Network Rail are always looking for the best people to join the industry.

Staff from across a range of different parts of the railway; including guards, drivers, engineers and volunteers from British Transport Police will be available at:

• London Waterloo station on Wednesday 29 June from 11.00 to 15.00
• Portsmouth & Southsea station on Thursday 30 June, from 10.30 to 15.00

They will be offering advice, answering questions and explaining how they help to keep the railway moving. There will also be behind the scenes tours of stations and on trains.

Kelly Barlow, HR Director for South West Trains, said: “Rail Week is a great opportunity to meet with young people, or anyone considering a change in career to show how rewarding, diverse and exciting a job in the rail industry can be. We can offer careers and opportunities across a huge range of roles and we’re looking forward to meeting anyone who would like to find out more.”

John Halsall, Route Managing Director at Network Rail, said: “Britain’s railways are a remarkable success story. Passenger numbers have doubled in the last twenty years and are continuing to grow, and the current UK Government is spending £40bn on a five year maintenance and upgrade plan to meet this demand. The industry employs some of the brightest engineers in the country but we need more, as well as a huge range of other skills to deliver this plan. That’s why Network Rail and South West Trains are jointly supporting Rail Week to encourage young people to explore the huge variety of careers available in the industry.”