Railway staff from service operators Great Northern and Thameslink made tracks for a coaching session hosted by the founder of a charity which aims to tackle bullying.

Dr Carrie Herbert is the president of the Red Balloon Learner Centres, which offer young people who have been severely bullied or traumatised a full time education in a small centre.

On the agenda for her workshop was the fact that bullying does not just happen in schools but goes on outside the school gates – including on public transport and trains.

The session gave the staff the chance to define bullying, discuss the ways in which it can happen and how to identify a bullied child and looked at options for dealing with it – including speaking to the children, identifying their uniform and contacting the school.

Sandra Kember, who was among the rail staff involved, said: “It was a good session because it identified other ways in which people can be bullied. It also highlighted how we as staff can take control of these situations and prevent them from continuing.”

Carrie said: “It is important that children and their parents can be confident that bullying will not be tolerated on trains and that it will not pass unnoticed by staff.”