East Midlands Trains marks train makeover with community trip

Listen to this article

The team of station volunteers from the North Staffordshire Community Rail Line and representatives from Forsbrook Parish Council joined East Midlands Trains on 22 November, for a special trip to mark the train operators’ £5 million refurbishment of the trains operating on the Derby-Crewe line.

Tim Sayer, Engineering Director for East Midlands Trains, said:

“We really wanted to do something to recognise the valuable work carried out by the station volunteers along the North Staffordshire Community Rail Line.

“This dedicated and hard-working team have done a fantastic job of transforming the stations and what better way to say thank you than a special trip on one of our newly refurbished trains.”

Faye Lambert, Project Officer for the North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership, who actively works with the station adopters along the route on projects to improve the station environment for passengers, said:

“A key objective of the Partnership is to secure the community support that delivers so many benefits, especially at unstaffed stations.

“Our North Staffordshire Line volunteers are the most proactive and hard working group of people; many are talented gardeners, who take real pride in their local station and have transformed station gardens, as is the case at Blythe Bridge.

“What they do adds value to station facility improvements, making stations more welcoming.

“I think this is a fantastic thank you from East Midlands Trains, whom I know value the dedication of our volunteers immensely.”

11 of the 17 Class 153 trains, which operate on many services between Derby and Crewe, have now been completely refurbished as the result of a £5 million investment scheme by East Midlands Trains.

The new look trains feature re-upholstered seating, new and improved internal lighting, new carpets and the installation of CCTV for the first time.

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...