Meet the Leeds primary pupils keeping rail passengers safe this Christmas…

A group of six pupils from Bramley St Peter’s Church of England School are playing their part in keeping Christmas rail commuters safe by designing festive safety posters. The posters are being displayed in Leeds station and remind parents with buggies and prams to be careful near the platform edge.

Bramley St Peter’s Church of England School pupils pose with one of the poster designs.

Ten year old Luke Lazenby first became interested in rail safety when creating his manifesto for the Leeds Children’s Mayor Election. Although his manifesto focusing on safety at the edge of train platforms didn’t win the election, Luke was keen to get in contact with Network Rail and let them know his thoughts on the importance of passenger safety.

Luke designed his poster reminding parents not to overload their buggies and to keep their brakes on this Christmas after looking through Network Rail’s existing safety material and realising nothing specifically highlighted buggy and pram safety.

Staff at Network Rail were so impressed by Luke’s design that they asked more pupils to get involved. With the help of Leeds station manager Helen Dawson, Luke and five other pupils from Bramley St Peter’s Church of England School will now see their designs on display at Leeds station.

Helen Dawson, Leeds station manager, said:

“I love the posters Luke and his friends have designed for the station, and didn’t hesitate to have them displayed. Over one million people a month use Leeds station, so in one week alone, hundreds of thousands of passengers will see their fantastic designs.

“While we don’t have a particular issue with prams falling on to lines at stations, it doesn’t hurt to remind passengers to take care at a big, busy station like Leeds, especially when many people may have buggies and prams loaded with Christmas shopping bags.”

The pupils will see their work displayed at Leeds station into the New Year!