Northern helps people with autism build travel confidence in West Yorkshire

12 January 2024

Northern has helped hundreds of people with autism to access the railway in the last year as part of a scheme with a West Yorkshire charity.

The train operator offers free travel on its network to users of the Leeds-based charity Specialist Autism Services (SAS), which works with and for autistic adults to help them develop social, communication and independence skills.

It meant that service users across West Yorkshire were able to go on group trips sightseeing in Skipton and Saltaire as well as individual trips for shopping, exercise and social events.

Lucy Struthers, service manager at the Leeds branch of SAS said: “Over the time we have worked with Northern, the partnership has enabled hundreds of journeys for our members and staff and has made a big difference to our members.

“Autistic individuals can struggle with social interaction, processing information, sensory difficulties, and high levels of anxiety. All these areas greatly affect their ability to understand, navigate and positively experience public transport because travel can create a host of challenges.

“However, using public transport is the thing which if positive, can be so instrumental in empowering individuals to develop social and sensory tolerance, increase opportunities, widen experiences and build valuable independence skills, so these passes are hugely important for development and learning.”

Northern has been working with the charity since 2018 and hopes the partnership will build up people’s confidence to use the railway independently.

Kerry Peters, regional director at Northern, said: “At Northern, the communities we serve are always at the heart of everything we do, and we are delighted to be able champion SAS in this way, as well as highlight the fantastic work of the charity.”

“We want to make our trains – and our wider network – as accessible as possible, and this is just one of the ways we are continuing to deliver a Northern that works for everyone and makes a positive difference.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.