A COMMUNITY rail partnership that promotes the Bentham Line is backing a national campaign encouraging people to ‘go green by train’.

The Leeds-Morecambe partnership has joined with other partnerships across the country, plus volunteer groups, to highlight sustainable travel as a key factor in tackling climate change.

The message is being delivered – as part of Community Rail Week – ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, which starts later this month.

Many activities during the campaign are focusing on engaging with the younger generation, as new research shows that seven in ten young people support greater use of trains in the future. The survey also found that 90 per cent of 16-to-24-year-olds feel that the environment and climate emergency are important issues.

Through its social media sites, the Bentham Line is using the initiative to showcase some of the ‘green’ ventures the partnership has been involved in.

University students on placement with operator Northern and the partnership produced station information panels, a travelling exhibition and an animation on the theme Get Nature Back on Track.

Topics covered in the panels included climate change, waste and water management, recycling, air pollution and renewable energy.

Matt Rayson, one of the students who worked on the project, said: “The panels were designed to be informative and educational and we tried to ensure that the messages conveyed were suitable for all ages. However the animation, with its main character Ed, was designed to appeal to young children.”

Also, ambitious plans were announced – by the Friends of Bentham Station – for the site to become a ‘100 per cent green energy station’.

More than 30 photovoltaic panels on the flat roof of the station building would generate all the electricity required for the site – including the LED platform lights and information screens, as well as within the offices.

Rod Tickner, of Keighley, vice-chair of the Bentham Line, stressed the importance of green travel. He said: “Sustainable travel is important along the whole of our line – whether it is travelling to the city for work, getting into the countryside or making a trip to the coast.”