Farewell tour to UK’s oldest trains raises £25,000 for children’s hospice and at-risk youngsters

Hundreds of rail enthusiasts joined Southern Rail for a special charity tour in one of the coastal Class 313 trains that will be retired from service on 20 May.

Together with the Branch Line Society that helped organise the trip from Brighton via Bognor, Littlehampton, Three Bridges, Ore and Newhaven, it’s expected the 313 tickets sold, raffle and on-board auction will have raised around £25,000 for Sussex children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House and Railway Children, a charity for at-risk youngsters.

The 47-year-old Class 313s are the country’s oldest mainline electric trains. Southern is replacing them with modern, air-conditioned 21st century Electrostar trains. These are three times more reliable and will transform passenger travel along the coast between Portsmouth, Brighton and Lewes (see editors’ notes).

Tour organiser and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) Duty Network Operations Manager Antony Yandell said: “The 313s have been operating for over five decades, helping people to get around and building special memories for train crew, passengers, and customers.

“Over the past six years GTR has arranged other farewell tours to mark the withdrawal of our older fleets and with this latest tour now complete, we have raised £75,000 for charity. Arranging these tours takes a lot of work and I want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has played a part.”

Ella Pilkington at Chestnut Tree House said: “There are hundreds of children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in our local community who require specialist care, and even more parents and family members who need help and support.

“It is thanks to the kindness and generosity of individuals and companies like Southern and its parent company Govia Thameslink Railway that Chestnut Tree House can be there for each family on their journey – now and in the future. On behalf of everyone at Chestnut Tree House, I’d like to say a huge thank you for your support.”

Also along for the ride was rail enthusiast TikTok and Instagram sensation Francis Bourgeois who has more than 3.5 million followers.

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Editors’ notes

The modern Class 377/387 Electrostar trains already operate with great success across the Southern network, including the coast, and feature air-conditioning and accessible toilets. On the busiest route to Portsmouth the modern trains will run with an extra fourth carriage, creating a third more space for passengers.

The two units used to form up the train for the farewell tour were 313201 (which is the first and oldest Class 313 unit, painted in the British Rail heritage livery) and 313213.

To see how Chestnut Tree House cares for local children and families, visit https://chestnut.org.uk/family-stories

Railway Children has been fighting for children alone and at risk on the streets for over 25 years. During that time, we’ve reached more than 275,000 children in India, the UK and East Africa. Who we are (railwaychildren.org.uk)