How Rail 74 is helping families feel confident about train travel
For many families, catching a train is an ordinary part of everyday life.
For some autistic, neurodivergent and sensory-sensitive children, however, a train journey can involve noise, crowds, waiting, unexpected changes and unfamiliar surroundings. What might seem like a simple journey can quickly become overwhelming.
For some families, the result is that train travel is avoided altogether.
Rail 74 Community Rail Partnership wanted to see whether something simple could help.
That idea became our Sensory Travel Bag Pilot.
Understanding the barriers
Before receiving their bags, all ten participating families completed an evaluation telling us about their experiences of rail travel.
The results showed a significant need for support.
Nine out of ten children were anxious about travelling by train, while eight were not regular train users.
Four children had either never travelled by train or had travelled only once or twice.
Families identified crowds as the most common difficulty, followed by noise, waiting, delays, communication challenges and busy stations.
Parents felt the impact too.
Six out of ten told us they were either not confident or only slightly confident about taking their child on public transport.
For six families, their hope for the project was particularly significant: they wanted the bag to help make train travel possible.
A simple idea
Each family received a sensory travel bag costing approximately £30.
The bags included a selection of small sensory and activity resources designed to give children something familiar and supportive to use during their journey.
Fidget toys and headphones have proved particularly popular.
Every child who has completed the follow-up evaluation used the fidget toys, while six of the seven used the headphones or ear defenders.
The bags also contained activities that could help children remain occupied, regulate themselves and focus on something other than the busy environment around them.
What happened?
Seven families have now completed their post-journey evaluation.
The results have been remarkably consistent.
Every one of the seven children increased their confidence about travelling by train.
For these children, average confidence increased from 4 out of 10 before receiving the bag to 8.3 out of 10 afterwards.
All seven parents or carers also reported increased confidence about using public transport with their child.
Most significantly:
Every family said the sensory bag helped their child complete a journey that might otherwise have been too difficult.
All seven families said they were more likely to use the train again.
All seven said the experience had encouraged them to explore more places by rail.
Together, the families have already completed at least 24 journeys using their sensory bags — and the true number is higher, as several families reported making more than five journeys.
From watching trains to travelling on them
One of the most powerful stories came from the family of a child who had never previously travelled by train.
Before the pilot, his confidence was rated just 1 out of 10.
He liked trains and enjoyed watching them but found actually boarding one difficult because of the noise and sensory environment.
With the support of his sensory bag, he made his first journey.
And then another.
He has now completed more than five train journeys, with his confidence rated 10 out of 10.
His family summed up the change beautifully:
“The fact that it got him on the train was amazing.”
They described how confidently he began approaching the railway environment:
“He walked on almost like he was staff!”
For that family, the project did not simply make a journey slightly easier.
It helped make the journey possible.
Confidence for the whole family
The effect has not been limited to children.
One parent explained:
“It made it an easier and more comfortable journey for us all. I felt less stress and less worried about feeling judged by others.”
Another family had previously avoided rail travel because journeys were simply too difficult.
Following the pilot, the parent told us:
“I would now go on a train without hesitation whereas before I would avoid it and we are planning more journeys.”
That change matters.
It can mean more family days out, greater independence and access to places and experiences that may previously have felt out of reach.
What families told us
When asked to describe the bags, families used words including:
“Amazing, compact and inclusive.”
“Magical, freeing and fun.”
“Fantastic, helpful, godsend.”
“Comforting, occupying, freedom.”
Another parent described the experience of seeing their child enjoying the journey:
“Being able to actually see the enjoyment on my son’s face throughout the journey and that his mind was maybe more at ease… for me it was the best feeling.”
These comments capture something that statistics alone cannot.
The outcome is not simply increased rail use.
It is a child feeling calm enough to enjoy looking out of a train window.
It is a parent feeling confident enough to plan another journey.
It is a family gaining another option for how they experience the world together.
What happens next?
We are continuing to learn from participating families and looking at small improvements to future bags.
Suggestions have included additional quiet activities, more stickers, improved bag straps and greater choice of sensory items.
The pilot has also reinforced the importance of recognising that every autistic child is different. No single resource will work for everyone, so flexibility and choice will remain important as the project develops.
At a direct cost of around £30 per bag, the pilot demonstrates how a relatively small intervention can begin to remove substantial barriers.
At Rail 74 Community Rail Partnership, we believe public transport should feel possible for everyone.
Sometimes that takes major infrastructure change.
And sometimes it starts with something much smaller:
a bag, a pair of headphones, a fidget toy — and the confidence to take that first journey.