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Alstom hosts The Greatest Gathering event to celebrate 200 years of railway
Alstom hosts The Greatest Gathering event to celebrate 200 years of railway

ITV News

time01-08-2025

  • Automotive
  • ITV News

Alstom hosts The Greatest Gathering event to celebrate 200 years of railway

Thousands of people are expected to come to Derby this weekend to an event which will celebrate 200 years of the modern railway. Alstom's Litchurch Lane site in Derby is opening it's site to the public for the first time in 50 years for the greatest gathering event which is sold out. Derby Litchurch Lane Works is one of the world's largest rolling stock factories, and the only UK facility that designs, engineers, builds and tests trains for domestic and export markets. The factory was opened by the Midland Railway in 1876 and the city of Derby has been building trains continually since 1839. The event will feature more than 100 vehicles from the past, present and future. Organisers have said it will be the largest temporary gathering of trains and rail exhibits in a generation featuring the world's most famous steam locomotives, the Flying Scotsman. It's part of wider celebrations for the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) on 27 September 1825. Campaigners will also be calling for funding to extend the electrification of the midland mainline, a rail project they say will create thousands of jobs, boost regional transport capacity, improve rail services and cut climate emissions. They are urging the government to switch the cash from destructive road schemes like the A38 expansion in Derby to rail electrification. Groups from across the East Midlands will be campaigning outside Litchurch Lane in Derby on Friday and Saturday 2 August. What's the history of the railway in the Midlands? The Midlands Counties Railway formed in 1832, played a key role in connecting key cities like Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. It was formed through merging several companies including Midlands counties and later incorporated the Birmingham and Derby Junction railway. In the 20th century, the Midland Railway was absorbed into the London Midland and Scottish railway in 1923. The Midland main line saw significant changes and the eventual restructuring into franchises like East Midlands Railway. The future of the railway HS2 have also revealed the concept designs for the interior of it's class 85 high speed trains at the event. Visitors are able to have a guided tour of a life size model carriage which is fitted to demonstrate the concept design for HS2's new trains. Once in operation, the trains will be developed at a depot in Birmingham and it's estimated this will create 2,500 jobs across the midlands and north. The fleet has been built under a 2 billion pound contract awarded in 2021 to the Alstom High Speed joint venture, the project spans three manufacturing centres which includes Derby. The Alstom site in the city is fitting out the interior for the HS2 trains. All profits from The Greatest Gathering will be split between Railway 200's five chosen charities - Alzheimer's Research UK, Railway Benefit Fund, Railway Children, Railway Mission and Transport Benevolent Fund CIO - and railway heritage partners.

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