Dutch railways and 113 launch Lives on Hold, a film about the moment before a crisis

The Dutch railway sector and 113, the Netherlands’ national suicide prevention line, have launched their first joint public campaign, Levens tot Stilstand, which translates as Lives on Hold. Its centrepiece is a four-minute film about a young man who cannot bring himself to tell anyone how he feels, and the railway worker who notices. Nearly 200 people die by suicide on the Dutch railways each year.

What happens in the film

The young man thinks about talking to his mother, then his friends, then a wider circle, and each time decides not to burden them. He goes to his local station instead. There, a railway worker who has been trained to spot people in distress approaches him and offers a safe place to talk. Juul Op den Kamp directed it for the Amsterdam agency Yune, with music by Jack $hirak, according to the agency’s campaign credits.

A six-part social series, Reality Check, directed by Anouk Suntjens, follows people with lived experience, including bereaved relatives and railway staff, on the campaign’s own Instagram channel. The clients are the train operator NS, the rail infrastructure body ProRail, the operator Arriva and 113.

Why it matters

Suicide on the railways is a subject transport operators have historically kept quiet about, partly for fear of copycat behaviour. This campaign takes a careful route around that, never showing the act and focusing instead on the moment before, when someone could still be reached. Tim Menko, creative director at Yune, said the challenge was translating “such a fragile topic into a campaign”.

It is part of a strong run of public-interest work this autumn that puts real people and real moments ahead of shock tactics, from the MND Association’s Life Stripped Away to People Like Us. If you are struggling in the UK, Samaritans is available any time on 116 123.