GTR donates £12,500 train retirement collection to Sussex children’s hospice

Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice in West Sussex has received a cheque for over £12,500 from train company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). The money was raised at a special charity tour recently, organised with the help of the Branch Line Society, to mark the retirement of the Southern fleet of Class 313 trains.

The farewell tour visited Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Brighton, Three Bridges, Ore and Newhaven. Ticket sales, a raffle and an on-board auction raised a total of £25,335.76 which GTR is dividing between Chestnut Tree House and Railway Children, a charity for at-risk youngsters.

The 47-year-old Class 313s were the country’s oldest mainline electric trains. Southern has replaced them with modern, air-conditioned Electrostar trains, which are three times more reliable, to transform passenger travel along the coast between Portsmouth, Brighton and Lewes (see editors’ notes).

Chris Fowler, Network Operations Director for GTR and Network Rail, presented the cheque to Ella Pilkington of Chestnut Tree House. Chris said: “In the five decades the 313s have been operating, they’ve formed special memories for train crew, passengers, and customers. It’s great that in honouring their service, rail enthusiasts have raised such a magnificent sum for children’s charities.

“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 Antony Yandell, our Duty Operations Manager, who led the organising team, and 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 GTR that Chestnut Tree House can be there for each family on their journey – now and in the future. This donation of £12,500 is enough to pay for a full day of all our care services, both at the hospice and out in the community, so really will make a huge difference. On behalf of everyone at Chestnut Tree House, I’d like to say a huge thank you for your support.”

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Editors’ notes

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)

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. GTR’s entire Electrostar fleet of 270 trains is being upgraded in a five-year, £100m programme with power and charging points, information screens, LED lighting and performance monitoring systems.