Network Rail re-energises its Switched On website as rail safety education is put onto the English National Curriculum

• Rail safety education becomes mandatory in PSHE curriculum in England from September 2026

• Switched On rail safety website relaunched with enhanced, age-appropriate resources for school pupils from ages 3 - 16

• New materials added including resources to help tackle the influence of dangerous social media trends and peer pressure encouraging bad behaviour on or near railways

  
  

All school children across England are to receive life-saving rail safety education when the subject becomes a mandatory part of the PHSE in the national curriculum from September 2026.

Ahead of the compulsory introduction, Network Rail has relaunched its Switched On website, which provides teachers with free curriculum-linked materials designed to teach children how to keep themselves safe in a rail setting and reduce the number of railway safety incidents involving young people.

The relaunched Switched On website offers extensive targeted content across the three key stage educational groups. Early years children aged 3-6 access foundational railway knowledge through 'Switched On Travels with Suzi', featuring animations, quizzes and new resources as young children follow Suzi and her mum during a journey to a nature reserve, whilst learning how to stay safe around the railway.

Materials for schoolchildren aged 7-11 aim to develop good judgement and decision-making skills, so that they can identify potential dangers and spot risky behaviours in others when in a rail setting. New website content includes resources based on the popular 'Arlo's Adventures' book series, where Arlo takes his first independent train journey, as well as design-your-own-poster activities and 'pick up cards' games teaching hazard recognition at stations, near tracks and level crossings.

New resources for secondary students aged 12-16 include content developed alongside TikTok sensation, and science creator of the year (2024), Big Manny. His social media videos demonstrate the science behind railway dangers and the potentially life-changing impact of unsafe decisions. The secondary programme also includes materials to stimulate debate and discussion challenging students to think critically about the role of peer influence on their decision-making and social media trends that encourage creating material in rail settings.

Priti Patel, Chief Health, Safety ＆ Wellbeing Officer at Network Rail explained: “We have always believed that it is essential to educate children about rail safety, which is why we, alongside our rail industry partners, have an extensive schools’ engagement programme in place. I’m delighted to know that when rail safety becomes a mandatory part of the English national curriculum next year, we are one step closer to our desire to ensure that every child is taught how to keep themselves safe when in a rail setting.

“The Switched On website is a great one-stop shop that provides useful tools for schoolchildren – from videos and interactive games to classroom activities and teacher guidance – all free of charge. I am sure that it is a welcome resource for teachers that will enable them to deliver effective rail safety education to children of all ages.”

The Switched On website was developed by Hopscotch Consulting, now a part of We. Communications and has been carefully designed in line with the requirements of the National Curriculum. Switched On educates young people to understand risk and the importance of informed decision making around the rail network.  

The enhanced platform builds upon the original website launched in 2021, which has successfully delivered rail safety education to hundreds of thousands of pupils nationwide. All materials are freely accessible through the dedicated website portal, including on-demand video content

designed to slot around existing school schedules. From September 2026, rail safety education will become mandatory within the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum for all pupils in England but the materials enable schools to start this education straight away.