Daniel Rogerson, from Standish , was given a unique insight into the railway after Avanti West Coast discovered his passion for Pendolinos. He was given a wooden train track when he was one, which has expanded and now fills his family’s living room. The five-year-old also enjoys train spotting, after watching Pendolinos pass his previous family home, which backed onto the West Coast Main Line.
He now spends hours with his grandad seeing the trains pass through a station. Riding on a Pendolino is his favourite activity, so his mum Elaine regularly takes him on trips between Wigan and Lancaster , so he can experience the high-speed journeys in a train carriage. She even had a bed specially made in the shape of a Pendolino by Wigan-based furniture painting business Octavia Chic.
Avanti West Coast’s social media team spotted the bed in a post on X and offered the super fan an opportunity to become a train driver for the day. Daniel enjoyed an exclusive test drive of the simulator at the Talent Academy – home of the intercity operator’s Driver Training Centre – as well as the chance to sit in the driver’s cab of its training Pendolino. He went on a behind-the-scenes tour of Crewe station, including the announcer’s office, and learned how to dispatch a train.
Natalie Whitehouse, head of learning and development at Avanti West Coast, said: “We had a great time welcoming Daniel to our driving school for the day. “With Daniel having so much love for trains, it was br.