Yorkshire Coast Rail Project Celebrates Seven-Strong Shortlist for National Awards

The Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership is celebrating after receiving seven nominations for the 2026 Community Rail Awards.

This achievement marks the first time in several years that the partnership has seen such a high level of recognition, reflecting a period of renewed energy and community focus along the railway line.

Among the most prominent nominations is Bridlington station, which has been shortlisted for a gold award in the "It’s Your Station" category. Rachel Osborne, the Community Rail Officer for the YCCRP, noted that this specific award evaluates more than just the visual appeal of a station, looking instead at its role as a community hub.

Osborne shared her enthusiasm for the Bridlington nomination, stating:

"Seven of our entries have been shortlisted for community rail awards. Four of our station groups entered into the it's your station category and all four were shortlisted. Now this is a really special award because it's not just about which station looks the prettiest, but the award also takes into consideration that the station group works with the community, that they encourage artwork and heritage projects, and that they encourage sustainability and look after the environment.

So stations that get shortlisted for this award have done really well. So yes, Bridlington has been shortlisted for gold in this category which it really well deserves and we put that entry in. So we're really holding out great hopes to Bridlington".

The partnership’s work in Scarborough has also been heavily featured, particularly its contributions to the Railway 200 celebrations. Two projects in the town are competing in the same category: a heritage exhibition held at the station's old parcels offices and a record-breaking event at the world's longest station bench. The bench event, funded by TransPennine Express, captured local interest by seeing how many people could sit on the seat simultaneously.

Reflecting on the success of the Scarborough event, Osborne said:

"From just being an initial idea that grew wings and that ended up being one of our most successful and talked about events. I think it captured the imagination because it was just so different to anything that we or any other group have done.

We had did a big event around the longest station seat where we got Scarborough sixth form down to see how many people we could sit on the seat and it was brilliant. It was just lovely weather and everybody turned out and it was one of those really happy memorable events that we got some really good photos of and yes that's been shortlisted for a gold award in the special Railway 200 category.

We're also competing against ourselves in that category because our heritage exhibition that we did in partnership with the old parcels offices on Scarborough Station has also been shortlisted for that that category as well".

Success was shared across the region, with Cottingham station being shortlisted for a silver award following its recent adoption by a new group. Additionally, station groups in Beverley and Hutton Cranswick both secured bronze award nominations.

The dedication of individual volunteers was also placed in the spotlight. Roger Gaitley, the YCCRP Vice Chair based in Bridlington, has been nominated for the Outstanding Volunteer Contribution award. 

On Gaitley’s contribution, Osborne remarked:

"our very own Roger Gaitley who is a volunteer based in Bridlington but he was our vice chair and um he's is brilliant. He started off we recruited him as the station adopter for Bempton station and I think he had visions of a just a casual little retirement job just potting up a few flowers on Bempton station but before long we had him doing all sorts and stepping up to vice chair and he's is one of our most committed volunteers. So yeah, he well deserves this nomination".

Beyond the YCCRP, the Esk Valley Community Railway has secured its own nomination for the "Forget Me Not Train" in the Best Community Engagement Project category.

The winners will be announced on 19 March at a ceremony in Derby, but the partnership maintains that the recognition itself is a significant victory for the hardworking teams involved.

Osborne concluded by emphasising the core mission of the volunteers:

"If we don't get any further than this, this is really special for us. We don't do it for awards. We do it because we love what we do. We're passionate about the railway and the community.

And I think all our volunteers are brilliant and all our projects are brilliant and they all deserve rewards. But it it is really special when we do get nominated and recognized as well".