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Amulet has retained its contract with Avanti West Coast and through the Travel Safe initiative will prioritise passenger and safety and wellbeing across the network.
To support Avanti West Coast’s safeguarding strategy, Amulet will deploy specially accredited Safer Travel Officers, who work with multiple charities to understand issues faced by vulnerable people.
The company will also introduce a new role, Safer Response Officer, who will lead the assault reduction plan. This initiative will focus on a proactive approach to security and provide support for customers and colleagues who face workplace violence, as well as provide an extra layer of security safeguarding. Awareness enhancement will be rolled out among stakeholders and customers through safety awareness events at stations, briefings, and training initiatives.
Avanti West Coast has been working with Amulet since 2022 after recognising its expertise in rail security and safety. Since then, Amulet has helped to transform the safeguarding team from a static security presence to a mobile unit operating across trains and stations. The updated Travel Safe strategy will be delivered by 37 team members, including two supervisors and a contract manager. It also brings a technology overhaul, with upgraded phones, equipment, and uniforms.
The partnership’s success to date is demonstrated by industry recognition. Earlier this year, Amulet officers Marie Jones and Jenny McArthur were highly commended for the Unsung Hero award at the Railway Children’s Safeguarding Champions event. They were awarded for supporting a vulnerable young person who was identified as being potentially at risk while travelling on the network. They also won an internal Amulet award for the same reason.
Within the ongoing collaboration, Amulet will continue to work closely with Avanti West Coast colleagues who plan for large events such as football matches, concerts and festivals, using the strategic deployment of Safer Travel Officers to help manage large crowds. They will also conduct joint patrols with the British Transport Police (BTP), and work with Network Rail and the BTP to patrol areas identified as high risk based on trend analysis.
Natalie Richbell-Beer, Avanti West Coast Safeguarding and Crime Manager, said: “We’ve seen excellent results from our partnership with Amulet over the past three years. Their expertise in safeguarding and commitment to continuous improvement has transformed how we protect passengers across our network, and we’re confident that the Travel Safe initiative will be a positive next step in our safeguarding strategy.”
Kieran Mackie, MD of Amulet, said: “We are proud to build on our successful partnership with Avanti West Coast. The investment of the Travel Safe team will provide additional support to customers through visible and expert safeguarding. Customer perception of safety is critical at times like this, and the Travel Safe team will provide exactly that.
According to the 2026 UK Facilities Management Market Research Report by askporter, facilities management professionals want clear, verifiable evidence of work being delivered, with teams that can communicate progress in real time. This requires technology that is affordable, intuitive, and quick to adopt.
Yet the report found that:
Over three quarters of FM professionals (76 per cent) experience operational inefficiencies caused by siloed software which results in a lack of real-time visibility.
Communications challenges lead to maintenance issues, with 73 per cent of teams being forced into reactive problem-solving on a weekly basis.
A worrying level of compliance gaps, with 44 per cent of admitting that half or less of their compliance tasks are tracked and automated within their systems.
Closing this gap requires the establishment of transparent and consistent communications using affordable software that gives FM teams the ability to track, evidence and improve their services.
This webinar provides a valuable overview of the main findings of the report by askporter followed by a panel discussion by FM thought leaders on practical, strategic solutions that can help close this communications gap.
To register for the webinar taking place 29 January 2026 at 11:00am click here.
