30 participants from the EU, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan were welcomed to the RSSB building in London by Dr. Ann Mills, who opened the session, greeting those there in-person and online.

Dr. Mills is the Head of Health and Safety Management at RSSB and Chair of the TreSP-Network. Most of those who attended work either in the railway sector or in academia (with people coming from the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences of Zagreb, University of Nottingham, Czech Transport Research Center, Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention (DRISP), National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP) at Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, theFRA Volpe Center in the USA, University of Hong Kong, to name just a few).

There were many interesting presentations given from the UK, Sweden, Australia, Poland, and the Netherlands, including:

1. Rebecca Warren, Police Inspector at the British Transport Police, who presented “BTP Collaboration with the UK Railway Industry”.
2. Louise McNally, Suicide and Trespass Prevention Lead at Network Rail, who presented “Youth Trespassing on the Railways” and a future awareness video and campaign.
3. Johan Fredin-Knutzén, expert on suicide prevention in transport systems and licensed clinical psychologist at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, shared pilot study results evaluating the best option available to prevent railway trespassing, fatal accidents, and delays. The suggested solution is to install fences lengthwise at the end of the platform, wherever there is an exit nearby.
4. Jette Louise Larsen, from DRISP, gave a short debrief on the 19th European Symposium on Suicide & Suicidal Behaviour (ESSSB) that took place from 24-27 August 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark. A special session on railway suicides was also held on 25 August. Please find the whole programme here.
   The European Symposium for Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour (ESSSB) is a biennial conference held in Europe. The aim of the conference is to provide a venue of knowledge exchange between researchers, clinicians, practitioners, and people with lived experiences. More info here. The next European conference is to be held in Rome from 27-30 August 2024.
   The 32nd world conference organised by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) will be held in Piran, Slovenia from 19-23 September 2023. More info here.
   Finally Jette Louise Larsen discussed an upcoming “Virtual workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Camera Surveillance as a Means to Prevent Suicides in Public Places" organised by the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention (DRISP) on November 11 2022 at 9.00AM-3.30PM (CEST). More info here.
5. Katarzyna Kucharek, CEO of the PKP Group Foundation and Vice-Chair of the UIC “Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)” WG presented a talk on “Trespassing and Suicides on Railway Tracks in Poland.”
6. Dr. Saskia Mérelle, Senior researcher (PhD) at 113 Zelfmoordpreventie, Amsterdam, Netherlands delivered a presentation asking: “Why do Young People Die via Railway Suicide?”
7. Heather Neil, Executive Director at the TrackSAFE Foundation, gave an “Overview of Trespass and Suicide Prevention Activities in Australia”.

Our next TreSP-Network meeting is due to take place online on 1 December 2022.

A worldwide trespass prevention awareness campaign (TRESPAD) should be held on 7 June 2023, a day before the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) which is provisionally set for 8 June 2023. Both of these campaigns will be launched by an international conference in Warsaw, Poland hosted by PKP and the PKP Group Foundation. More information will follow in the coming months.

Useful links:

https://uic.org/safety/trespass-and-suicide-prevention/
https://uic.org/safety/safety-at-level-crossings/
https://ilcad.org/
#RSSB #uicrail #safety #trespassing #TrespassSuicidePrevention #restrail #awareness #ilcad #prevention #railways #railroads