RUI
4 Feb 2026
Catch up in our summary below and read more on Linked in
Rail Unites for Inclusion (RUI) led a Race Equality Week conference on 4 February in collaboration with other industry partners and networks including Department for Transport Operator, Cultural Fusion – Network Rail’s ethnicity network group, Great Western Railway, EDI Charter, Ethnicity and Race in Rail, British Transport Police, First Rail and GTR. The event was held at Waterloo with satellite locations at various locations with people having 'watch parties' to view the event online together and reflect on it at their locations. The conference was opened by Apeksha Naik, DFTO and Industry Inclusion and Belonging Lead and Co-Chair of Rail Unites for Inclusion highlighting that the theme of the day was Allyship bearing in mind feedback that had been shared at a previous industry race related conference. Apeksha also introduced Mameri, one of the newest members of the RUI leadership team.
Sacha Hatteea, Director, GBR Design Programme attended the conference and shared these reflections: "Thank you to Apeksha and Odis, Co-Chairs of Rail Unites for Inclusion for inviting me along and to everyone involved in making the day happen.
Thank you to all of those who ran sessions, and for everyone’s contributions throughout the day
Interesting to undertake the icebreaker session about Privilege - I realise that we all experience potential biases in some way or other, and that we should all think about how it affects us, affects others and what we could potentially do about it.
We were asked to reflect upon our own personal commitment about being a better ally - mine will be on looking and listening more closely to what's happening around me
There was a fascinating session on insights into the rail industry statistics - how having relevant data is vital to all decision making. How do we encourage self-declaration - but more importantly we already have a significant data set to make decisions on so what action are we going to take?
Anit Chandarana reminded us not to forget the journey and improvements we've made - but we can't be complacent and more needs to be done - there were thoughts on places to focus action based on regional data.
We touched on how leadership are taken through the systems, the impacts of developmental courses and how we need to invest in them - there needs to be a link between activities and actions and delivery on them.
NR shared how they analyse their statistics and talk about data to move the dial but we had a clear reminder that clear communication on action and delivery is vital to provide confidence
Pauline Holroyd touched on one of the key issues that needs to be looked at i.e. that we can attract but attrition is a problem that we need to tackle
Rikita Wadhwa ran the interactive session of the day - on cultural intelligence - culture being the ideas, customs and social behaviour and CQ being the ability to work with people who are different to us
I also took away that cultural intelligence comes from a state of curiosity rather than judgement - so I will reflect on how I continue to practice curiosity
Quote of the day from Ritika was 'Inclusion is not about others and their behaviour but about us and our actions'
And then a fantastic industry leaders panel session about what a good ally can look like. First hand experience of what's wanted, from as simple as encouragement to the great mentoring, sponsoring and allying schemes that are out there and how they are making a real difference helping others.
Suzanne Donnelly shared that of the 1.6bn passenger trips, 300m are from ethnic minority backgrounds and their is constructive work to understand our passengers and communities better, what they want and how we can make it better, especially on areas such as gender, perceptions of safety and trust.
Ruth Busby touched on Rail Wellbeing Live and the Youth Futures Foundation, helping young people from ethnic minority backgrounds including into careers in Rail and the plans for a Youth Promise for Rail.
Richard shared information about the Race Action Plan and numerous strategies in the BTP - the complexities of stop and search, what the data is saying - and how to build contacts with the community
I reflected that there is a danger that we just preach to the converted - how do we get allyship more widespread - how do we bind others in
I know I left the conference feeling positive about the work going on, and the ability for us all to make a difference
So for those who attended please get out there, share what you've heard and learned today as I know I will be sharing. If you didn't attend, get in touch with those who did to find out more.