Santa spreads festive cheer on Northern trains across the North

Father Christmas made festive appearances on several Northern services last weekend, spreading holiday cheer and handing out gifts to children travelling across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Yorkshire.

Dozens of volunteers who work with Northern to promote and enhance train travel helped organise the visits, distributing sweets and mince pies to passengers. On Saturday, Santa was spotted on trains between Ashley and Hale, and on a service running from Glazebrook to Irlam.

More than 100 children also visited a grotto set up by Friends of Irlam Station.

David Ollerenshaw, chair of the volunteer group, said:

“It was fabulous. The weather wasn’t the best, but it didn’t put anyone off. The kid’s loved it. All of their faces lit up and it was tremendous to see. We had more than 100 children come to the grotto and visit Santa.”

Elsewhere, Santa travelled on services between Brough, Hull, and Scarborough as part of an event organised by the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership.

Rachel Osborne, community rail officer, said:

“We love doing the Santa special trains as it is magical to see the joy on the children’s faces as they meet Santa. These trains are a great way to encourage families to try the train and it is always good to see people travelling for the first time and enjoying the experience.”

In the North East, Santa will appear on the Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle, joined by local schoolchildren singing Christmas carols. The event, planned for Monday, 15 December, marks the one-year anniversary of the line opening, which has already seen more than 900,000 journeys.

Northern, which funded the events, has decorated dozens of stations across the North with Christmas trees and festive displays. Schoolchildren and community choirs will also perform at stations in the coming weeks, including Manchester Piccadilly and Marple.

Richard Isaac, regional community and sustainability manager for Northern, said:

“There’s always a lot of excitement when Santa shows up on our services and it’s fantastic to see him put a smile on so many faces. We would like to thank the volunteers for helping to organise these visits and for all of the work they do throughout the year – it makes a big difference for our customers.”

Image: Northern