In the ABC Railway Campaign The Office of Rail Transport aims to promote safety rules and responsible behavior when using rail transport. The campaign is addressed to children and teenagers, as well as their teachers and parents. The campaign’s mascot, a friendly rhino called Rogatek, teaches how to behave safely on trains, stations ad level crossings.
So far, nearly 18 million people watched campaign’s advertising spots on TV, over 6 million people saw them in cinemas and 25 million on internet. Over 4 million people watched other campaign-related educational programs on safety when travelling by train. The campaign is promoted by popular vloggers (Mateusz Ciawłowski, MY3, Hejka tu Lenka, Zabawy Mistrzów, Pusheen Girl and Zwariowani). The vloggers involved in this project created 16 short videos which had nearly 3.5 million views. The campaign's social profiles on Facebook and Instagram are followed by over 40,000 people.
- The ABC Railway Campaign is an innovative educational project. We use different types of media when reaching to children with a knowledge about safe travel. The campaign’s mascot rhino Rogatek is widely recognizable symbol of railway safety for kids and teens and we see it in statistics of advertising spots and programs. I am confident that the ABC Railway Campaign will contribute to the improvement of railway safety – comments Ignacy Góra, the President of the Office of Rail Transport.
During the ABC Railway Campaign nearly 500 interactive lessons were conducted in kindergartens and primary schools. During these classes the children had the opportunity to expand their knowledge about safe travelling by train and rules on level crossings. Through interactive games and activities they learned how to behave safely at a railway station, on a platform or on a train. Over 14,000 children participated in these classes. The campaign’s plans for 2021 are also ambitious: lessons in 700 kindergartens and schools for 21,000 kids.
The Office of Rail Transport also supports children and their parents in distance learning. The website www.kolejoweabc.pl offers educational resources which are used by children, their parents and teachers. The coloring book, lesson plans in electronic form, textbooks for teachers and other educational materials were downloaded by over 23,000 people.
During the ABC Railway Campaign different competitions for children and teenagers were prepared. For lower-grade children 8 competitions we organized in 2019 and 2020. For upper-grades at the end of 2019 the competition ‘Action Mural’ for the best artwork presenting railway safety rules was launched. The main prize was transferring of the winning mural design to the building's wall and repainting of school rooms. Nearly 2,000 artworks prepared by over 19,000 teenage artists were submitted in the competition. The results were announced at the beginning of 2020. Ultimately, the main prize was claimed by the school in Nowa Sarzyna. The mural based on the winner’s design was painted on a wall of a building at the Zawisza Square in Warsaw city center and will be displayed until the end of 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, no family picnics were organized in 2020. In 2019 over 21,000 people participated in family outdoor events prepared by the Office of Rail Transport. The next family events are planned for the holiday period in 2021.
The ABC Railway Campaign was created out of concern for safety of children and young people in railway areas. Unfortunately, railway accidents are mainly the result of careless behaviour of car drivers and pedestrians. Up to 70% of accidents on the Polish railway network occur at level crossings and illegal passes through train tracks. The Office of Rail Transport plans further activities for 2021 to be launched during the ABC Railway Campaign. All information is available on www.kolejoweabc.pl website and on the ABC Railway Campaign profiles on Facebook and Instagram.
The ABC Railway Campaign is a nationwide information and education campaign promoting railway safety rules and responsible behaviour when using rail transport. The campaign is co-financed by the Cohesion Fund under the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020.