Rail Youth Promise
The Rail Youth Promise (RYP) is a sector-wide charter uniting organisations across the rail industry to increase the number of young people entering and progressing within the workforce.
Why the Rail Youth Promise Matters
Over one million young people aged 16–24 are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET), and apprenticeship starts for young people have fallen by 40% in the last decade. This is a national challenge requiring coordinated action from government and employers.
The rail industry is well placed to help address this challenge with nationwide opportunities, low skill barriers to entry for many roles, clear progression routes with the ability to learn while you earn, and a strong sense of purpose. Yet young people are underrepresented with only 6.8% of the rail workforce aged 16 - 24, compared to 12% of the general population.
This presents a clear opportunity for the rail sector – not just to support young people into work but to strengthen and sustain its own future workforce. NSAR’s 2023 Rail Workforce Survey shows that one‑third of the rail workforce is over 50, with more than 75,000 employees expected to retire by 2030, creating substantial replacement demand.
Skills shortages are most pronounced in electrification, digital systems, project management, and engineering disciplines, and only 13.5% of the workforce is under 30—the lowest proportion since NSAR began tracking this data.
There is an urgent need to broaden and modernise the industry’s talent pipeline to ensure that rail remains resilient, diverse, and future‑focused. Bringing more young people into the sector is not only critical for long‑term sustainability, but also an opportunity to fill emerging skills gaps while injecting fresh thinking and perspectives.
The Government has announced changes to its Youth Guarantee to create a more joined-up offer of support for young people, with a clear expectation that employers will play a central role in making this happen. This includes the expansion of Youth Employment Hubs to strengthen local engagement with young people; a new national gateway offer for all young people on Universal Credit providing tailored employment support; and the rollout of a Jobs Guarantee providing 6-month paid jobs for those facing the greatest barriers to work.
Alongside this are reforms to the apprenticeship system aimed at prioritising apprenticeships for young people. It includes the introduction of more flexible apprenticeship units in areas such as AI and digital, together with the removal of levy funding for some leadership and management programmes. Together, these changes are likely to shift how many companies in rail think about and prioritise their apprenticeship provision in the coming years.
What is the Rail Youth Promise?
The Rail Youth Promise framework is structured around five pillars that guide how the rail industry can further engage and support young people – removing barriers, driving inclusion, showcasing opportunities and continuously increasing impact.
INSPIRE
Inspire the next generation to see rail as a dynamic and rewarding career choice and equip young people with the skills and confidence to succeed.
Promote the breadth of opportunities across the rail sector
Work with schools, colleges and trusted partners to equip young people with the skills to access those opportunities.
Examples
Participate in targeted outreach activities for young people Aged 11+ to build early interest and understanding of the rail industry.
Work with schools and further education colleges to embed essential skills within activities and curriculum-linked interventions, provide coaching on essential skills to marginalised groups, run employability workshops.
Create and expand taster days, work experience opportunities, and interactive workshops which link with potential entry pathways providing a clearer picture of career possibilities in rail. Connect with older youth and those not in education or training by working with trusted partners to provide insight days, application support, and direct access to employment or apprenticeship schemes.
HIRE
Create fair, accessible and ambitious entry routes into rail careers that reflect the diversity of young people’s backgrounds, aspirations and abilities.
1. Set ambitious targets to increase the number of young people entering rail.
2. Expand entry level opportunities, including Foundation and Level 2 apprenticeships, as routes into long-term careers.
3. Adopt, evidence-based inclusive recruitment practices and remove unnecessary barriers to entry.
Examples
Make entry routes and progression pathways clear, accessible and easy for young people to navigate
Provide constructive feedback to all interviewees to support their development and future success.
Expand work placement offering through trusted delivery partners or intermediaries
Strengths Based approach to interviewing
LEARN
Provide young people with the skills, support and safe environments they need to thrive in the rail industry.
Support the development and delivery of new and reformed apprenticeship standards and new pre-apprenticeship opportunities
Ensure safeguarding and wellbeing through mandatory training, informed by Railway Children, NSPCC guidance and legal review.
Examples
Equip managers and supervisors to support young people effectively including supervision, mental health awareness and generational inclusion.
Work with educators, providers and delivery partners across the RYP hubs to align learning with real rail roles.
GROW
Enable young people to progress, stay and succeed in long‑term rail careers
Create visible progression pathways from entry level roles into skilled, professional and leadership positions.
Use data to identify and address gaps in social mobility, representation and progression.
Support key transition points (e.g., apprentice‑to‑employee, supervisor to first line manager roles, and returners) to reduce dropout and early attrition.
Examples
Streamline and accelerate training pathways to reduce time to competence and remove barriers to entry and progression for young people.
Embed youth voice in decision making by involving young people in governance strategy and service design.
Deliver structured mentoring and coaching for early career professionals
Build strong early-career communities to connect, support and signpost opportunities for young people.
Support Young Rail Professionals to help attract, develop and retain young people
CONNECT
Reduce travel barriers so young people can better access opportunities for both work experience and work opportunities.
Remove or reduce transport cost (e.g. rail costs) for all interviews, work experience, internships and apprenticeships within the railway.
Commit to supporting and contributing to rail card and concession reviews to enable rail to become a viable, sustainable and affordable method for young people to gain meaningful employment nationwide.
We want to increase the number of people working in rail so that we are more representative of the national population (currently young people make up 12% of our population). We can only achieve this if we work together as an industry to make a step change in the way the industry interacts with young people.
Read our introduction and commitments below:
Engage senior leaders to sign up, and young people for feedback, using our collaboration and logo pack below:
Governance and Accountability
Ruth Busby (People Director at GTR) and Rob Mullen (Chief Customer and Commercial Officer - Anglia Railway and founder of Young Rail Professionals) have volunteered to act as Executive Sponsors for the Rail Youth Promise.
A cross‑industry Steering Group and Working group have been put together by the Rail Unites for Inclusion Co-Chairs - Apeksha Naik and Odis Palmer as well as Judith Ibukunlayo, a Finance Learning and Development Specialist supporting our Sponsors.
The Steering Group includes industry leads in this space from DFTO, Network Rail, RDG, NSAR, Young Rail Professionals to develop, launch, implement and then steer the Rail Youth promise. A working group has been set up as the delivery mechanism where TOCs, Network Rail and other industry leads will collaborate together to deliver upon the commitments under the 5 pillars of the Rail Youth Promise.
Become a signatory to be involved in the Rail Youth Promise