The Campaign for Family Friendly Trains

Family-friendly scorecard 2025 Our third family-friendly trains scorecard exposes a UK railway split between pioneering operators learning the lessons for success when it comes to catering for families travelling with young chil…

The full report and scoring matrix is here: familyfriendlytrains.com/family-frien...

@eurostaruk.bsky.social, @serailway.bsky.social and Transport for Wales all extend passenger assist to parents and carers travelling solo with young children to help with luggage and prams when getting on and off the train.

There were pockets of excellence elsewhere. London Overground have dedicated priority pushchair areas and @westmidrailway.bsky.social advertise their multiuse space on outside of their train with a pram symbol.

Many operators have shown significant improvement since our last survey in 2023, with a number (Scotrail, TransPennine Express and @serailway.bsky.social) indicating their ambition to include space for unfolded pushchairs in their next trains.

Unfortunately, a number of operators did not engage with us:
@gwr.com, C2C, Southwestern Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway (who operate Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express)

@lner.co.uk continued to lead among long distance operators, excelling in staff training and good practice with its #familyfriendly lounges at King's Cross and York and family specific disruption policies.

@merseytravel.bsky.social scored top marks in a number of categories and came out top as it has universal level access from platform to train and dedicated pram space.

#familyfriendly #train #travel is facing a junction. Continue to show improvement or neglect this significant segment of the leisure market.

In every category at least one train operating company managed to gain a top score demonstrating that the absence of #FamilyFriendly #train #travel across the #uk #rail network is not due to lack of ideas or technology, but a lack of implementation and will

Thread: Digging into the results--

We asked every #train operating company to score themselves a series of categories, and we then reviewed the scores and evidence.

NEW Research: Our 2025 Family Friendly Trains Scorecard is here!

We reached out to 23 #train operating companies with the help of the Rail Delivery Group to undertake an assessment of how #familyfriendly they are.

@merseytravel.bsky.social and @lner.co.uk are the clear winners!

Please can we check that you got out?

At Chepstow station, like many others, I imagine you can only access one platform without climbing steps. Recently a woman arrived from Cardiff with a baby in a pushchair and was unable to get the train back because of the footbridge.

Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains Campaigning to make travelling by train with young children easier

Please join the campaign! familyfriendlytrains.com

Screenshot from Matrescence by Lucy Jones In preparation for our first journey up, I had asked an on-line parenting group for tips on travelling alone with a baby not old enough to sit for long dis-tances. Working prams are not permitted on trains in England: they must be folded up because there is no designated space for them on board. One commenter suggested I buy a seat for the baby using a Family and Friends railcard, although children aren't required to have tickets until they are five. The rest of

In England, it is easier to travel with a bike than with a baby. One train company has a dedi-cated space for four bikes, or two tandems, that cyclists can book in advance. Tandems have more rights on the trains than young humans. New mothers are often found sitting on the filthy floors with their infants. The situation is different in other countries. Switzerland's trains have a family zone, with space for pushchairs, with play areas and games tables. France's trains have dedicated family areas for buggies and a power-point to warm bottles.

Cute baby sitting in his buggy on the train, in the space allocated for a wheelchair

We've secured the best place for a baby on the train, in the wheelchair space by the toilet getting annoyed about the lack of provision for children in public space

This is so useful. The amount of times we've come to a railway station with a pushchair and not had a way to get over to the platform (in rural Wales) is insane.

More frequent and reliable trains would be a huge help. As would consistent level boarding, decent bike/pushchair/luggage space and wheelchair spaces.

Might as well ask for the moon on a stick.

We want all trains to have family friendly spaces; we don't mind who runs them!

Class 707 Train Photo by Southeastern

Class 707 at Cannon Street station Photo by Southeastern

Class 707 City Beam Train at London Bridge Station Photo by Southeastern

Southeastern’s Class 707 ‘City Beam’ trains will be fitted with accessible toilets as part of a multi-million-pound investment. The larger toilets will have wide doors for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs, improving accessibility.
newsroom.southeasternrailway.co.uk/news/southea...

We're trying to change that!

I also lived in zone 3 and regularly travelled to zone 6. We could have got the train but when we had young kids, we drove instead. Why? Safer, more reliable and try dealing with a pushchair on a train. Absolute mare.

One of my favourite campaigns is here!

screenshot of a tweet reading "To the Southern Rail UK driver who pulled into West Norwood, saw me standing on the wrong platform, watched me realise and sprint with a buggy out of the station and around it, and then reopened the doors even though he’d already closed them, I wish only good things for you always."

A Tweet led to a flurry of other people shouting out #kindness they’d experienced on trains - and then to an article on The Poke highlighting them all!

The original Tweet read

“To the Southern Rail UK driver who pulled into West Norwood, saw me standing on the […]

[Original post on kind.social]

Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains Campaigning to make travelling by train with young children easier

We're trying to make things better. Like and follow please!

familyfriendlytrains.com

No seat for under 5s drives me mad. Obviously, one cannot share a seat with a 4yo and a 2yo. There is nowhere for a pushchair. A 4yo and 2yo can't stand for hours. I would love to sit a rail exec down and ask him* to explain how this family is meant to travel.

* I feel confident calling this one

We are a group of parents campaigning for better facilities for children and families on the UK rail network.

Our main ask is for dedicated space on trains for unfolded pushchairs, with seating for parents or carers nearby.

Campaign for Family-Friendly Trains Campaigning to make travelling by train with young children easier

That's been our experience! Read more about our campaign here: familyfriendlytrains.com

We'd love to see carriages like this on all long distance routes...

I've had to develop systems in the past for what happens if trains are cancelled. Spreadsheets for alternative routes etc. With a pram, most of those routes are not possible now. So different systems are now in place.

Even just with a buggy. There are some — especially bits of the thameslink in London, and GWR trains all over — which have a huge climb up/down from to the carriage, physically impossible for one person plus pram to manage.