Tim Sayer, Engineering Director for East Midlands Trains, said:  “We really wanted to do something to recognise the valuable work carried out by the station volunteers along the North Staffordshire Community Rail Line.  This dedicated and hard-working team have done a fantastic job of transforming the stations and what better way to say thank you than a special trip on one of our newly refurbished trains.”

Faye Lambert, Project Officer for the North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership, who actively works with the station adopters along the route on projects to improve the station environment for passengers, said: “A key objective of the Partnership is to secure the community support that delivers so many benefits, especially at unstaffed stations.

“Our North Staffordshire Line volunteers are the most proactive and hard working group of people; many are talented gardeners, who take real pride in their local station and have transformed station gardens, as is the case at Blythe Bridge. What they do adds value to station facility improvements, making stations more welcoming. I think this is a fantastic thank you from East Midlands Trains, whom I know value the dedication of our volunteers immensely.”

11 of the 17 Class 153 trains, which operate on many services between Derby and Crewe, have now been completely refurbished as the result of a £5 million investment scheme by East Midlands Trains. The new look trains feature re-upholstered seating, new and improved internal lighting, new carpets and the installation of CCTV for the first time.

City.Mobi

Also in England today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Manchester.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Manchester.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.