2000 lives saved across Eastern railways in last five years
27,000 rail industry staff have been trained across the country as part of the Rail Suicide Prevention Programme
New Samaritans figures show in the last five years, more than 2000 lives have been saved across railways in the East of England.
Over the last 14 years, Network Rail and Samaritans have worked together to train 27,000 rail industry staff as part of a Rail Suicide Prevention Programme.
Nationally, this has led to 1,937 interventions made in the last year alone.
Louise McNally, the suicide lead at Network rail, tells us staff are trained "to find and recognise those people who may be vulnerable and in distress."
"Then they can make that intervention, and get them to a place of safety."
She continues, "Bystanders can also play a significant role in preventing railway suicides by taking direct action or by alerting authorities."
However, findings released by Samaritans shows over half of adults in the East of England (51%) avoid engaging with someone they don’t know to avoid small talk.
Whilst 17% are worried they would say the wrong thing when engaging with someone.
Ms McNally says, 'A simple thing like saying "isn't it a lovely day" can interrupt that suicidal thought process and change someone's life completely.
"If you're a bystander, and believe someone is in distress at a station, try and strike up some small talk. It could change their life."
If you require support, please contact Samaritans on 116123 or online on the Samaritans website.