FirstGroup hosted a stakeholder’s preview evening at the Riverside Museum on Thursday 2 June, three weeks before the doors open to the public.
The evening celebrated the completion of the transport museum and highlighted First’s position as sole founder patron of the Riverside Museum Appeal.
Around 400 employees and their families from ScotRail and First’s bus operations in Scotland were given the opportunity to preview the recently completed museum during an evening of canapés and drinks.
The transport operator announced its support of the Riverside Museum in 2007 – and provided the funding to bring Loco 3007 back to Glasgow.
The ‘Mountain Class’ engine – designed and built in Glasgow in 1945 for South Africa’s harsh terrain and vast distances – pulled the renowned Blue Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town until 1988 when mothballed.
Six ScotRail engineering apprentices helped restore the Loco. ScotRail’s Managing Director, Steve Montgomery, said:
“Our apprentices were delighted to conserve part of Scotland’s proud engineering heritage.
“Glasgow’s transport collections are of international importance and it is fitting that the Mountain Class locomotive will be at the heart of the new museum.”
FirstGroup’s Marketing Manager, Avril Gill, said:
“It has been a real privilege to be involved in the opening of what is the leading transport museum in the UK. The museum will enthuse and inspire future generations. It is a wonderful facility and our congratulations go to the Riverside Museum Appeal for bringing such a remarkable project to life.”
Earlier this year, FirstGroup named a ScotRail train in honour of Scotland’s newest museum. ‘The Riverside Museum’ has been transporting passengers throughout Scotland since March.
Another of FirstGroup’s companies, First in Glasgow, will provide the new, official bus service from June 21 linking the Museum with the city centre.
