In honour of Stoke-on-Trent’s 100 years since becoming a city, Avanti West Coast has created an updated nameplate.

Avanti partnered up with Stoke 100 to add a new name plate to Pendolino 390129 to carry the name ‘Stoke-on-Trent’ and an updated design which features ‘1925-2025’ to mark the centenary.

The new name plate was unveiled at Euston, from there it headed to Stoke-on-Trent with city dignitaries on board for the birthday celebrations.

390129 also holds the name ‘Brett’, which remembers Avanti employee Brett Hobson and was greeted by Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Steve Watkins and included friends of Brett.

Avanti West Coast were given a certificate by the Lord Mayor to recognise their contributions to Stoke-on-Trent Day, which will be an annual celebration held on the 5th June.

“It’s an honour for us to take part in the official birthday celebrations of this fantastic city. We proudly serve Stoke-on-Trent with our Pendolino trains and have a great team at the station who take pride in welcoming hundreds of thousands of people to and from the city by rail each year.

“Our Pendolino nameplate is a nod to the rich heritage of Stoke-on-Trent which has long been connected to the railway and comes as 2025 also marks the 200th anniversary of the railway in the UK. The ‘City of Stoke-on-Trent’ will be making many more journeys on the West Coast Main Line and some of those will be bringing people together to celebrate this fantastic city.”

Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast