A platform for change 

Shahiesta with members of the women's group at an event for Eid.

How community rail is opening doors and transforming lives in Lancashire. 

I admit, I had made some assumptions about community rail before I wrote this piece. I have a three-year old son who is pretty much obsessed with steam trains, and we’ve been to a lot of railway events, museums, model railway fairs… and the crowds at these things? Well, they’re pretty homogenous. Predominantly male (spare a few tolerant wives) and almost entirely white. 

So, forgive me for being more than a little surprised when I was introduced to Shahiesta Raja; Education Development Officer at Community Rail Lancashire and very unlike anyone I have just described. 

Shahiesta is a former teacher, whose lifelong love of the railway led her to apply for the role with Community Rail Lancashire six years ago, despite not being entirely sure what community rail was all about. 

“I didn’t know what a community railway company was. But it happened to be in the town I live in, Accrington, and it said community and it said trains. And I thought, well, I like trains. I’ve always travelled on trains and anything to do with the community, I’m always interested in, and I thought, ‘let’s just give it a go!’” 

Clearly, Shahiesta’s infectious enthusiasm shone through, and she got the job. She told me she definitely felt a bit different to the others working in the station. 

“It’s not particularly multicultural. When I started this job, I think I was the only Asian heritage person doing this. But, because of that, it was quite natural for me to link up with other people that were a little bit like myself.  

“I connected with groups and organisations that ran ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses. I offered to do the transport section of the class, and to bring people to the railway station to show them how to plan and execute a journey.” 

From this, Shahiesta’s network grew, and she began to work with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries, supporting newcomers to the UK, who were unfamiliar with the railway.  

“They were trying to figure out their new home, and how to get around. We started to work with lots of different groups to teach the refugees how to use public transport, safely, because the rail system might be very different in their home country, or they may not even have one. In Afghanistan, there isn’t really a railway system, so some people had never even been on a train.” 

A lot of Shahiesta’s outreach work came to a halt (if you’ll excuse the pun) during the COVID pandemic, but as things started to open up, she found new purpose in supporting people who had become isolated and were struggling with their mental health following lockdown. 

“A good friend of mine who I’ve known for a very long time, she started to struggle a little bit getting out of the house and felt a bit isolated. So I invited her to my work with me. My office is at Accrington Railway Station in this lovely space underneath the ticket office that we call ‘The Bunker.’ 

“My friend loved it, and said it was such a nice, safe space that she would like to invite some other women that she knew; and it sort of grew from there. From about three or four people we’ve ended up with around 20 women, that come regularly on a Tuesday morning. 

“Initially it was just somewhere for them to go, and also a safe space for them to talk about whatever they wanted to talk about. But then I used it as an opportunity to help them to use the trains as well.  We’d just go to very local places, go for a walk, go for a cup of tea and then come back again. And it just started to give them a bit of confidence. And so they were able to start doing short journeys by themselves.” 

Shahiesta explained that some of the women were born and brought up in the UK, and some had lived in the UK for 30 years or more; but many had little to no experience of using trains. For the first time, through being part of this group, the women were able to travel independently and confidently around the local area and beyond. 

“It’s actually life-changing for some of them. One woman was able to visit her sister who was unwell in hospital in Blackpool, and this was absolutely transformational for her. Previously she had always needed a family member to give her a lift, and now she can not only make that journey, but she is helping others in the group to do it too.” 

The impact of the group goes beyond the members themselves. As of last year they have official “adopted” Accrington Station, which means they are now involved with the maintenance and care of the planters, community garden and decor on the platforms. Now, regular passengers have become familiar with seeing the women working away each week, and Shahiesta says it has helped create more connectedness and cultural understanding in her hometown. 

“These women all live close by but had never really considered that the railway station is somewhere for them. They’re all Muslim women. They wear hijabs. And I think they feel like they belong in areas where there are other people like them. But my one of my aims was to bring what they do in their own community, into the wider community and help them to understand that public spaces are theirs as well. And so now it’s really lovely when people see them on the platform looking after the planters and then their hi-vis and their hijabs and people get off the train and ask them what they are doing, and ask them questions about the group, and then compliment on, on how nice things look at the station.  

“Everything looks a little bit more looked after. And from my experience, when the station is looked after, there’s less vandalism. There’s less graffiti, there’s less anti-social issues. And because the group are there every week and people see them in their hi-vis and they look very official, they understand that they’re looking after and cleaning up and tidying up. People are very respectful of that, I think.” 

Shahiesta’s story is one of many I’ve heard this year as part of our 25 Big Local Actions in 2025 campaign. It demonstrates perfectly what we mean when we say big local action. Something that started with just a few women looking for a safe space, has turned into a beautiful tale of empowerment, independence and a sense of belonging. 

You can read more about the positive impact of turning to public transport on our Big Local Action Page here, or, if you’re on a different journey, then use our interactive tool to find the action that’s right for you.