Great Western Railway (GWR) is joining in with the Notting Hill Carnival celebrations by running a carnival train. The train will be stopping off at Swindon at 10.42am on Sunday, August 25, as it makes its way from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.
GWR is providing free travel for diverse groups within some of its communities, including several families who have not had the opportunity to take the train to London Paddington before. The 10am service from Bristol Temple Meads will have two carriages decorated with carnival logos. GWR's carnival train (Image: GWR) Travellers will enjoy music from Plymouth-based Real Steel Band and guitarist Edson Burton, performances by Hype Dance Company and an art workshop with Carol Sherman.
The carnival train has been organised by GWR’s REACH (Recognising Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) employee network with support from Severnside Community Rail Partnership and Reading Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership. Carnival train curator, Mameri Eze, said: "GWR is proud to celebrate inclusion and diversity and running a carnival train in celebration of the Caribbean culture is a perfect fit. "We’re excited to bring it back for its second year and invite families on board who might not have travelled by train to London before.
" GWR customer services director and REACH sponsor, Rachel Geliamassi, added: "We really care about the communities we serve and this is a great way of sharing the carnival experience with them. "We’ve joined forces with a number of groups in the Bristol area to give families a train journey to London, where they can party like never before at the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.” Alongside REACH, the two community rail partnerships have worked with St Pauls Carnival, youth organisation ACE and Hype Dance Company Bristol to deliver the carnival experience.
Severnside Community Rail Partnership manager, Heather Cullimore, said: "Carnival is an important part of cultural heritage for many of the communities in our area. "We were fortunate to be part of the carnival train last year and families certainly had a day to remember. We’re all looking forward to more of the same this weekend.
" St Pauls Carnival operations manager, Julie Syer, added: "We’re extremely grateful to GWR for offering us tickets for its special carnival train. "This has enabled us to show our thanks and appreciation to our community partners, the amazing ACE youth project based at Docklands Youth Centre, by passing on the tickets. "They are now getting their carnival vibes ready to take to Notting Hill Carnival.
”.
