The rail industry showcased the capability, tools and resources developed to improve welfare access for railway workers, committed to scaling up proven solutions from trials and agreed a National Action Plan to coordinate delivery across the network.
Whilst toilet facilities exist across the network, there are specific groups of railway workers that struggle to access them readily. This includes, though is not limited to train drivers. In some cases, this struggle has led to staff resorting to undignified solutions. Historically, there has been no cross-industry collaborative solutions to this problem, until now.
The RSSB Railway Welfare Facilities Charter, launched in October 2025, has now been signed by 40 organisations.
At the Delivering Welfare Facilities for All Railway Workers workshop on Wednesday, hosted by RSSB and supported by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), 51 Senior Leaders from 35 organisations – freight and passenger train operators, Network Rail, the Department for Transport, trade union and suppliers – showcased progress and united the industry behind a national action plan.
Freight Safe Programme (FSP): Provision of Welfare Facilities Project
The FSP’s Project is a collaboration between freight operating companies, Network Rail, RSSB, ASLEF, LNER and GTR, supported by ORR and DfT Rail Security. It has used the East Coast Mainline, London Gateway-Doncaster as its trial route.
The Blueprint: When needed, a driver can contact the signaller via GSM-R to request an unscheduled toilet stop and use a suitable agreed location, in line with existing rules and procedures. Facilities are deemed suitable if they pass a three-tier test covering: that the train can stop safety, considering limitations such as gradient and train length; user safety, considering safe walking route for the driver; and, facility safety, considering location-specific risks and security.
The Delivery: An operational test on the 23rd September 2026 proved the network capacity for such stops and the GSM-R request process. Identification of more suitable facilities are now sought so freight operator companies can test further in October. Network-wide roll-out of the blueprint to start mobilisation on World Toilet Day.
Digital Toolkits
RSSB’s Welfare Insights: This maps every welfare facility on the Network – stations, depots, signal boxes and customer sites – against freight dwell-time data to show where trains already stop. Its immediate value is showing where welfare provisions exist and that pass the three-tier test, and gaps where they don’t. It has future potential to be used in creating paths and service plans that better account for welfare needs.
Network Rail’s Welfare App: The Network Rail Welfare App is being modernised and future-proofed with data being incorporated into a wider system that offers geolocation information to users, with a planned launch for mid-2027. This system will offer accurate and easily accessible welfare location data for rail industry personnel who are planning or need access to welfare facilities on railway infrastructure.
Culture Around Welfare
Train operator, c2c, presented it’s Caught Short Guide, introduced in 2024. This gives drivers explicit management backing to answer the call of nature and almost no measurable impact has been seen on performance since its launch. This demonstrates that suitable welfare and punctuality are not and should not be in opposition.
There was a shared agreement in the room that no one should be reprimanded for using the toilet, and that this culture and trust must be rebuilt from the top down, demonstrated through action and not just commitment. This commitment was welcomed by CIRAS who presented on the welfare-related concerns they had received over the years.
The National Action Plan
There were several commitments made:
- Every organisation that has not yet signed the RSSB Railway Welfare Facilities Charter will do so or be explicit why they have not.
- Each organisation is to assign a Senior Leader dedicated to ensuring the business operates a positive culture to toilet breaks.
- Facility owners commit to positively engaging with the FSP’s project and assess the suitability of their sites quickly to support the timely delivery.
- Industry commits to creating an Industry Forum for welfare, to bring accountability to the delivery of the national action plan.
Richard Hines, HM Chief Inspector of Railways, ORR, said: “For too long, some railway workers have faced unacceptable barriers to accessing basic welfare facilities while carrying out their duties. Addressing this is not only important from a health and safety perspective, it is also central to building a more inclusive railway and a culture where people are treated with dignity and respect.
“Getting this right will help ensure the railway remains a career of choice for current and future generations of workers.
“The law requires employers to assess risks and implement suitable control measures and arrangements. It is therefore encouraging to see so many organisations working together to develop practical and innovative solutions to meet those expectations. Today’s steps represent meaningful progress, but there remains more to do.
“The true measure of success will not be the plans, charters or technology alone. It will be whether frontline railway workers experience a tangible improvement in their working conditions and can access the facilities they need, when they need them, wherever they are working on the network.”
Rebecca Vaudrey, Director of Health, Safety and Security of DB Cargo UK and Freight Safe Programme, Welfare Project Sponsor, said: “The recent successful light locomotive trial proved that the concept was achievable within the existing operational rules, that the existing GSM-R system was sufficient for the stop request, that the network had capacity and that facilities for our train drivers do already exist.
“The project completion and network-wide scaling are now wholly reliant on the engagement and support of wider Rail Industry, particularly Station Facility Owners, and I am pleased to have secured that commitment from them today. This will enable FSP to achieve our project delivery deadline of 2026 World Toilet Day.”
Joshua Fisher, Chief Operating Officer, RSSB, said: “This is a problem that has been discussed for years because it sits between organisations rather than within any one of them. Today’s event was not a discussion about whether to act; it was a working session on how to act, by when, and who is accountable. We leave with a tested blueprint, a national plan and a date.”
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