Great Northern, the train operator run by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), took around two hundred schoolchildren from Hertfordshire to see the Christmas panto Cinderella.

The children attend St John’s Primary School in Digswell, a village in the Welwyn Hatfield district. They travelled in a ‘pumpkin coach’ – a regular train carriage! – from their local station Welwyn North to Welwyn Garden City.

Welwyn North is to benefit from additional services in the new timetable introduced today. Welwyn Garden City station has a sensory garden that was opened last year.

The large group of children then made their way to Campus West to see the pantomime.

The children are aged between three and eleven years old, and many of them had not travelled by train before. It was the first time that the school had taken its pupils on a school trip by train.

In advance of the pantomime trip, Great Northern ran a bespoke session for the schoolchildren on safety while travelling on trains. The session included identifying the dos and don’ts of train journeys.

Then on the day itself, Great Northern staff supported the group of children on the platform and on the train journey, helping to ensure that the trip went as smoothly as possible. The journey involved crossing the Welwyn Viaduct, from where the children could see their school – a reversal of the situation every other day, when they can see the viaduct from their school!

The school’s headteacher Arnold Worton-Geer described the pantomime trip as “a huge success” and predicted that the school would use the train for more trips in the future, emphasising its convenience and environmental benefits.

“This was one of the larger school safety talks we’ve held for schoolchildren, and they were all very attentive and asked plenty of questions.

“With us celebrating the 200th anniversary of the modern railway this year, it was fitting to have 200 of them in the room and on the train with us.

“These young people could be the next generation of railway workers who contribute to another 200 years of moving the country by train.”

Ross Evans, Great Northern’s School Engagement Manager