• Volunteers on-hand to give advice and teach CPR
• Train stations are among a range of venues where CPR awareness events will take place
• Aim is to have 500,000 people equipped with CPR skills by 2020

Rail travellers passing through Aberdeen, Haymarket, Kilmarnock and Inverness stations on 16 October will have the opportunity to learn CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) as part of European Restart a Heart Day.

Volunteers working with the Save a Life for Scotland Charity will be on-hand to teach CPR skills to staff, rail customers and station visitors. Armed with dummies, they’ll teach techniques and answer questions around administering CPR. The volunteers will be in these stations from 12-3pm on 16 October.

This day of action is part of the charity’s stated aim that by 2020 there will be 500,000 people in Scotland trained to administer CPR in the event of someone having a heart attack. Since an untreated heart attack could potentially lead to a cardiac arrest, learning life-saving skills such as CPR could make the difference to a patient and their families.

Every year around 3500 people are treated for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The ScotRail Alliance’s director of safety and sustainability David Lister said: “We are pleased to support the work of Save a Life for Scotland. We place huge importance on keeping our customers safe and well and anything we can do to make sure everyone’s prepared if there’s an emergency on our trains or in a station is vital.

“I encourage as many staff and customers as possible to learn the skills of CPR. Sadly, we never know when we may need them and they may help save a life.”

Lisa MacInnes, National Programme Manager for Save a Life for Scotland said: “We are so grateful to ScotRail for their support of the campaign and for providing their customers with the opportunity to learn this life-saving skill.

“Each year in Scotland, thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds will have an unexpected cardiac arrest. Being first on the scene is scary. Calling 999 to get help on the way and stepping up to do compression-only CPR, if asked to over the phone by the Ambulance Service call taker is not always easy, but it’s the right thing to do. Taking a few minutes to learn how to perform CPR and make yourself ‘CPR ready’ will make all the difference, and can save a life.”

Photo caption:
Help in a heartbeat – the ScotRail Alliance supports charity’s drive to raise awareness of CPR (picture credit: Claire Fleck photography)

The ScotRail Alliance is setting jobseekers on the fast-track to work with the offer of free travel.

Managing director Alex Hynes was at Clydebank station to highlight the ScotRail Alliance’s offer of:

– Two free return journeys a month for jobseekers attending an interview
– A free ScotRail travel ticket for the first month of a person’s return to work

Mr Hynes said that by supporting people back into work, the ScotRail Alliance is helping to grow Scotland’s economy.

Jobseekers are also able to take advantage of the Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card – a UK government initiative which allows those who are unemployed and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit to receive a 50% discount on selected rail tickets.

ScotRail Alliance Managing Director Alex Hynes said:

“We’re building the best railway Scotland has ever had, and part of that is helping to grow the economy and create a fairer country by setting people on the fast-track to work.

“For people out of work, the cost of travelling to an interview can often be a barrier to returning to work.

“By removing that barrier and providing help with the cost, we hope to be able to support people into work and grow Scotland’s economy.

“The support we offer to jobseekers is one of the ScotRail Alliance’s best kept secrets – but I want as many people as possible to know about this opportunity.”

Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Employability and Training, said:

“The ScotRail franchise is about much more than delivering a rail service – it acts as an enabler for growth by helping people access education, employment and leisure opportunities across the country.

“This offer to jobseekers does exactly that by making attending interviews and starting work more affordable.”

Pictured above: (L-R) Janette Anderson, Alex Hynes, Judi McLaughlin and Graeme McFarlan at the launch of the Scotrail scheme to launch job applicants back into work with free travel.

– Major infrastructure works underway across the network
– Journeys may be affected after the end of the evening peak period
– Customers advised to check dedicated webpage for info on their journey

The ScotRail Alliance is reminding customers to check before they travel as the next phase of the Scotland-wide rail upgrade programme gets under way this weekend.

From Sunday 21 May work will be carried out to improve the network in Central and Northern Scotland. On those routes affected by the work, there will be changes to journeys after the end of the evening peak period.

To help customers plan ahead, the ScotRail Alliance has summarised the key changes at different times of day between now and December on a dedicated webpage at scotrail.co.uk/improvements.

Journey times will be longer and customers can expect to see queuing systems in operation at key stations.

As well as increasing the overall reliability of the rail network, the improvement work takes the next step towards introduction of new faster, longer, greener trains for Scotland – meaning more seats and shorter journey times.

Jacqueline Taggart, ScotRail Alliance Customer Experience Director said: “No one likes having their journey changed. However, this short term disruption will lead to a more reliable, better rail network that will rank amongst the very best.

“We are going through a massive period of change on Scotland’s railway. The work that we are carrying out over the next few months will bring about a revolution in rail – with more and better trains, more services and more seats than ever before.

“However, while we transform the railway, there is inevitably going to be some impact on people’s services. We are doing everything we can to minimise this, and to keep people moving.”