'Be kind' to workers on the Highland Line

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is launching a new campaign called ‘Be Kind’, to tackle anti-social

behaviour experienced by railway workers.

The campaign includes partners from the wider rail industry, will see members of station and onboard staff wear a range of badges to encourage people to be kind when travelling by train.

Featuring phrases such as ”I am someone’s mum” and ”I am someone’s brother”, the badges have been

designed to humanise the wearer and remind those they interact with that they are more than ‘just a

uniform’.

LNER colleagues across the East Coast route began to wear the Be Kind badges this month and will

continue wearing them into the new year, as the team look to understand the impact the badges have

in reducing anti-social behaviour.

In addition to the badge designs that focus on the wearer’s family relationships, there is also a range

that features illustrated animals such as a lion alongside the words ‘please don’t roar at me’, to help the

campaign test a number of different of approaches.

Claire Ansley, customer experience director at LNER, said: “Having seen the impact that anti-social and

rude behaviour can have on our customers and colleagues, it was important that we took action and

formed LNER’s Be Kind campaign.

"As a first step, our new range of badges are a simple way for us to support our station and onboard teams whilst out and about and we’re already seeing that they are generating a lot of positive conversations with customers.”

In addition to the trial of Be Kind badges, LNER is continuing to work with other train companies to

explore further ways to encourage more kindness on the railway.

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