Comedian Sara Pascoe has been encouraging families to spend their time reading whilst travelling on trains operated by London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Northern, Southeastern, and TransPennine Express.

The train operators are helping the Reading Agency with its Summer Reading Challenge, which is designed to keep children reading while they are away from school during the summer holidays. The campaign was launched this week with Sara Pascoe, who also hosts the Weird Book Club podcast, holding pop-up reading sessions for schoolchildren on trains travelling between Leeds, York, and London.

During the coming months, staff from the four train operators hope to hand out 65,000 free Summer Reading Challenge activity packs to families travelling by train. Aimed at children aged 4–11, each activity pack contains a Storytime magazine, a sticker booklet, an activity sheet, and a certificate, as well as other fun resources to encourage them to read more while they are away from school.

It will be easy for children to become involved, regardless of where their journey starts, as the activity packs will be available on board certain services and at selected stations from Edinburgh in Scotland to Margate on the south coast, and from Newcastle in the northeast to London. The initiative also coincides with the government supporting 2026 as the National Year of Reading.

Sara Pascoe commented that she always loved reading when travelling, as it’s a brilliant way of making a journey feel like part of the adventure. She enjoyed surprising families on the train, sharing stories, and seeing children get excited about the books. She thought that such a simple idea of turning travel time into reading time was a lovely, easy way to keep kids entertained and help them discover the fun of reading.

At the beginning of this month, rolling stock company Porterbrook sponsored the Three Peaks by Rail challenge to raise money for the Railway Children charity, which aims to change the lives of vulnerable children, whilst in June, over 1,000 Year 6 pupils attended sessions at Leeds station to learn about safety on the railways.

“The Summer Reading Challenge is all about helping children discover the joy of reading in ways that feel fun and easy. By working in partnership with LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express, we’re reaching families where they are and turning every journey into an opportunity for imagination, creativity and shared family moments. It’s a powerful way to help more children enjoy reading, wherever the summer takes them.”

Karen Napier MBE, Chief Executive at The Reading Agency