At Queensland Rail, safety comes first. Always. The safety and security of customers and employees is Queensland Rail’s number one priority. 

Founded in 1865, Queensland Rail has a proud history of connecting Queensland communities and supporting local jobs, industries and economies. A 7,500 strong workforce delivers services across South East Queensland (SEQ) and Regional networks, including Travel and Tourism services and Regional Freight. Queensland Rail is proud of the role they play in providing vital passenger and freight services and are dedicated to ensuring that systems, procedures and practices reflect the highest standards of corporate governance.

Trespassing on the rail network is an ongoing issue faced by Queensland Rail. In 2018, Queensland Rail experienced three alarming electrical safety incidents, including two incidents with four teenage males who ignored warning signage and trespassed on our SEQ rail network. The teenagers came in close contact with the overhead line equipment (OHLE), which carries 25,000 volts, suffering severe, life-threatening injuries. Trespassing data identified males aged 15-24 years were most likely to trespass or engage in unsafe behaviour.

The ‘High Voltage Can Jump’ (HVCJ) campaign was launched to communicate that an electric shock could happen without direct contact with OHLE. The campaign’s key message was that 25,000 volts of electricity can arc out, not just destroying souls but friendships, relationships, lives, and families. In developing the HVCJ campaign, the strategy was to understand what matters most to the audience to capture their attention and influence their behaviour. To do this, we destroyed the thing they cared about more than themselves, their rare and highly sought-after sneakers.

The campaign was delivered in two phases. Both phases used the same methodology and research but different approaches and techniques to meet the goals and objectives.

Phase one launched in August 2019, in conjunction with Rail Safety Week (RSW), as part of our activation at the ‘Ekka’ (Royal Queensland Show).  The sneakers were exploded with pyrotechnics, and real-life experiences were featured in short social media videos. In addition to paid social media posts featuring the campaign videos, the campaign appeared on Queensland Rail’s marketing assets, a station domination at Central station and at over 48 stations in SEQ.

After the success of phase one, phase two launched in August 2020 and continued to grab the attention of this risk-taking, hard to reach audience.

Phase two was a targeted social media campaign that partnered with local rap artist ‘Lisi’ as the face of the campaign. Queensland Rail’s in-house videography team produced a video of Lisi rapping ‘Hard Yakka’, in-front of a HVCJ mural at Loganlea station and launched on Queensland Rail’s social channels in August as part of RSW 2020. In addition to other targeted social media posts, Lisi announced the partnership on his own Instagram account.

During the campaign periods, Queensland Rail recorded no high voltage incidents on the SEQ network and the number of persons charged with trespassing on the railway reduced by 43 per cent.