Rail Delivery Group

Rail industry marks World War One Centenary

date 29 July 2014   source Rail Delivery Group   type Press release

An exhibition will launch next month exploring the crucial role played by the railway during WW1, one of a number of events planned by the industry to mark the centenary of the conflict.

Opening at Waterloo station on 10 August, exactly 100 years after the first train carrying members of the original Expeditionary Force left Waterloo station, the exhibition will feature rarely seen wartime images and a collection of railway artefacts from the period. It has been produced by the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together Network Rail and the owners of Britain’s passenger train and freight operators, and will visit five other major stations across England over the next year.

Over the same weekend, Network Rail will host a regiment of living historians who will re-enact the journey of WW1 soldiers arriving at Waterloo station on Saturday evening, sleeping on railway land over night before marching through the station on Sunday morning and departing on a train bound for Southampton.

The railway exhibition includes photographs from the archives of the National Railway Museum as well as public notices, train tickets and rail uniforms. It will be renewed and refreshed over the next four years to reflect different themes around the wartime railway and its workers.

When Britain declared war on Germany it was the railway that enabled efficient movement of the British forces, and their equipment, between France and home. As well as looking at the vital role rail played in the transportation of troops and supplies, the exhibition will also explore the role played by women on the home front, keeping the railway running by taking on jobs traditionally seen as men’s roles when 185,000 railway workers left for battle.

Other events planned by the industry over the coming months include a programme of choral performances in stations, historical re-enactments of some of the key events around mobilisation and the rededication of a number of station war memorials. The Rail Delivery Group will also feature the story of a different fallen railwaymen each month on its website.

In its role helping to coordinate the rail industry’s plans to commemorate the WW1 centenary, the Rail Delivery Group has also confirmed that all train operators will be supporting this years’ Poppy Day appeal by offering free travel to collectors.

Edward Welsh, director of communications for the Rail Delivery Group and chairman of the RDG’s WW1 rail industry forum, said:

“While the rest of the country is remembering WW1 and those who fell in it, it is important that we also mark the vital role played by rail and the sacrifices made by thousands of railwaymen who fought in the conflict. During the war, the railway was kept running by the hard work of men and women on the home front and the importance of the job they did must also be recognised.

“The railway has a long standing relationship with our armed forces and is proud to support our troops today and in the past.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

A list of events planned by the rail industry to mark the centenary of war will be available on the Rail Delivery Group website from Monday 4 August.

Free travel will be granted for Poppy Day collectors, who will be required to wear military uniform or have Poppy Day or military identification, on the following days:

o London and City Poppy Day – Thursday 30 October
o Plymouth – Thursday 30 October
o Birmingham – Wednesday 5 November
o Bristol – Thursday 6 November
o Manchester – Thursday 6 November

Railnews Archive ::: 2014-07-29 RDG-001

search all fields