Freightliner has hosted the Railway 200 Inspiration exhibition train helping to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway. Held at Freightliner’s Doncaster Railport, the only freight facility on the schedule for the Inspiration train, thousands of visitors from across the UK were welcomed onto the Freightliner site over the two days.
The Inspiration train is the only exhibition train on the UK rail network – is part of Railway 200, the cross-sector campaign to mark this year’s rail bicentenary. The train also included a ‘Your Railway Future’ carriage that highlights some of the lesser-known positions within the railway and the varied career opportunities available at Freightliner.
During the weekend, visitors also had the opportunity to view live lifting and loading of a Freightliner container train within the operational terminal, view one of the Freightliner 60th anniversary liveried locomotives up-close, and for visitors that attended on Saturday 16th August, a locomotive naming in honour of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK (CILT UK).
Locomotive 90039 was re-named in recognition of the fundamental role that the CILT UK plays in supporting the logistics and transport industry. The plaque was unveiled by Anna-Jane Hunter, CILT(UK) Chair of the Board, who said:
“Today is not only about the naming of a train but also the remarkable history this represents. CILT UK have been supporting rail freight for over 100 years, and we are proud to be part of the Railway 200 celebrations. Freightliner is one of the biggest names in rail freight so it’s a huge honour to have our name across one of their trains.”
David Turner, Intermodal Operations Director at Freightliner, said:
“I want to take a moment to celebrate and remember the important work CILT UK do for our sector. Reflecting the livery on the newly named locomotive, the CILT are a backbone for the sector and continue to fly the flag for all those across logistics and transport. It was a pleasure to host so many guests at Freightliner Doncaster Railport over the weekend and help to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway by hosting the Inspiration train which will help to inspire the next generation of transport and logistics professionals. Thank you to our visitors, partners and everyone involved in helping to make this event a huge success.”
Emma Roberts, Programme Manager for Railway 200, said:
“We were delighted to bring Britain’s newest visitor attraction to Doncaster, a city with a proud railway pedigree. Our special exhibition train aims to excite, enlighten, entertain and inspire visitors to take a fresh look at the railway and consider a career in an industry that’s going places. We’re very grateful to Freightliner and City of Doncaster Council for hosting the train and joining in the national bicentenary celebrations.”
This celebratory weekend also coincided with Freightliner’s 60th anniversary year. The first Freightliner service ran back in 1965 from London to Scotland, launching Freightliner as a contender in the intermodal haulage market. Since then, Freightliner’s service offering has expanded greatly covering heavy haul, terminal service, road haulage and even European operations.
