Speaker
Dr Miriam Ricci, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Transport & Society, UWE Bristol

This talk will be based on the Great Western Railways (GWR) funded Days Out by Train project and discuss the beneficial effects of schemes to encourage more rail travel amongst socially excluded groups.

Days Out by Train in the West of England had two interrelated objectives:

1. To improve our understanding of barriers to rail travel for low-income communities living in the West of England and neighbouring areas, and
2. To make days out by train more affordable by providing complimentary tickets to groups of people in socio-economic disadvantage.

The project engaged with over 120 organisations working with low income communities and delivered 134 days out by train in the period July 2016 to end of February 2017. Over 2,000 people took advantage of the initiative, including groups of refugees, asylum seekers, people with mental and physical disabilities, and families on the breadline.

The Days Out scheme was particularly helpful because it allowed groups to travel together as opposed to funding free travel for individuals travelling on their own.

Please register using the new CIHT website by Thursday 24^th January 2019. Tea, Coffee and light refreshments will be provided.