Students from the University of Salford have created a series of visual animations for passengers on TransPennine Express train services.

Animation students have been given the opportunity to create the information videos for TransPennine Express as part of ‘Extras Week’ – this is where businesses provide live briefs to students to help bridge the gap between education and work.

The students were asked to make the videos for the safety of the train passengers.

Three students led the project team: James Lawson, aged 21, from Wigan, Adam Frith, aged 30, from Leigh and Maria-Larisa Covaciu, aged 24, from Tirgu-Mures in Romania. They also had support from 14 other students.

The animations will be shown on trains and at stations from July 2018. They will also be used on board the brand new Nova trains.

One of the animations can be viewed here:

What did the officials say?

Maria-Larisa Covaciu said:

“This was a really exciting project, as we got to work directly with industry and we learned a lot about communicating with clients, meeting deadlines, managing a team and working to a budget.

“Particularly as we were working with one of the biggest rail companies in the country, this was a great experience of working in the real world, and I’d never done anything like this before.”

Jonathon Byrne, Lecturer in Animation at the University of Salford, said:

“The students really understood what TransPennine Express were looking for, they treated this brief very seriously and the work they’ve delivered is of the standard you would expect from one of the very best professional agencies.

“These are really engaging pieces of work that passengers will enjoy watching, and I’m proud that hundreds of thousands of people across the rail network are going to see work that our students have produced.”

Joseph Smith, Customer Information Manager for TransPennine Express worked with the students to create the final designs. He said:

“This is the first time we’ve collaborated with the University of Salford and it’s been a privilege to work with such a talented group of individuals. We’re committed to supporting communities across our network as part of our vision to Take the North Further.

“I’ve loved seeing the final animations take shape and develop over time and can’t wait for our customers to see the final result.”