GTR helps Brighton celebrate with Pride

A dozen Southern trains have been rebranded with the colours of the rainbow as Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) joins Brighton & Hove in celebrating Pride 2018 this weekend (3-5 August).

The colourful logos are being applied to the front and back carriages of 12 trains. Staff will also be joining in the spirit of the occasion by decorating the station with bunting, dressing up and wearing glitter.

Brighton station is expected to be very busy so there will be colour-coded queues in the spirit of the event to help people board the right train.

Extra staff will be working at key stations and as well as travel advice, station assistants will be keeping passengers hydrated with bottles of water.

To cater for the influx of visitors, GTR will have longer trains and additional services where possible.

Preston Park station will be closed all day Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 August and London Road station will also be closed from 12 noon on Saturday and all day on Sunday. The main event is so close to both stations there would otherwise be issues with passenger flows from the platforms. This was jointly agreed with event organisers and the emergency services.

Full information including last trains has been published at www.southernrailway.com/brightonpride and at www.thameslinkrailway.com/brightonpride.

Brighton Station Area Manager Graham Thrower said: "There is a real feeling of anticipation at the station. Staff have been working hard behind the scenes to get ready, and will be joining in by dressing up and wearing glitter. We’re looking forward to a fantastic weekend and wish all our passengers a happy and safe Pride."

GTR's diversity champion and Operations Learning Manager Polly McGillivray will be celebrating at the festival. She said: ''Pride is such an important celebration. Personally, I have been very fortunate to be working with a company that wants to celebrate diversity with its employees and the LGBTQ+ community and understands the importance of Pride.”'

Paul Kemp of Brighton & Hove Pride CIC said: "We are expecting record numbers of people travelling from all over the UK and from around the world to attend Brighton & Hove Pride this year and we thank GTR for their work to support Pride and for their preparations to ensure everyone attending Brighton Pride can get in and out of the city with the minimum of disruption.”

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