A train bearing the name of Elstree Studios will be travelling throughout five counties following a unique collaboration between the Studios, Hertsmere Borough Council and First Capital Connect.
A pink plaque on the driver’s carriage of a Unit 319 will be officially unveiled at Bedford station on September 2.
The train will be used on the Wimbledon loop from Bedford, and the Bedford to Brighton line. In total, it will travel through Surrey, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Sussex and parts of Kent.
The event commemorates a film themed transport interchange at Elstree and Borehamwood station and Elstree Studio’s close links to London.
FCC Managing Director, Neal Lawson, said:
“I am pleased to mark this partnership at the train naming ceremony on the 2 September.
“The new forecourt at Elstree and Borehamwood Station was a fantastic project and only made possible due to a strong partnership with FCC, Elstree Studios, and Hertsmere Borough Council.”
Roger Morris, Managing Director or Elstree Studios, said:
“The importance of the train naming for Elstree Studios and First Capital Connect is how Elstree is so closely linked to central London. Via Thameslink, it is 20 minutes from Kings Cross, as well as being well served by the M1 and M25.
“It is unique for a UK studio to be so easy to get to via a first class rail link. Over the years, the railway has brought thousands of audience members for shows such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Dancing on Ice, Big Brother and Are You Smarter.
“Film- makers, audiences and television producers all take advantage of the fact that Elstree and Borehamwood are easily accessible by train and motor rail which has also made it popular with hotel development, now boasting five hotels within ten minutes of the station.
“When the Studios was first built 85 years ago, the station was known as Elstree, having been built as an extension to St Pancreas, before being renamed Elstree and Borehamwood in 1950.
“I’d like to think Alfred Hitchcock might have travelled by train to work on his film, Blackmail back in the late 1920s. Last year was the 40th anniversary of The Railway Children, which was filmed at Elstree, and we’re very proud to still be involved in what is clearly still the age of the train!”
The transport interchange began last September and was completed this March.
By transforming the old forecourt, it provided customers with better designed road access and step free access across the new forecourt, FCC said.
New bus shelters and waiting areas, safer walking and cycling routes and additional cycle parking and disabled parking spaces in a more convenient location were also provided.
In addition, a number of improvements paid tribute to the town’s TV and film heritage, including star paving and film star lamp post banners.
Naming a FCC train is ludicrous nonsense when the train service itself is so poor .