Hull Trains

Hull trains celebrates its fifth birthday

date 30 September 2005   source Hull Trains   type Press release

Special members of staff helped Hull Trains to celebrate its fifth birthday this week. The staff members who have all been with the company since it first took to the tracks back in autumn 2000 led the celebrations on Friday, September 30.

Hull Trains team with a specially made birthday cake.The staff include drivers Mark Ward, Lindsey Angus and Claire Glenville; Train Managers Paul Foster and Brian Terry, Hospitality staff Garry Varney and Mary-Ann Tennyson; Safety Manager Charlotte Price, Business travel assistant Pauline Glenville and servicing staff Len Harvey.

They saw off the 12.01 from Hull Station, rounding off a great birthday week. Managing Director, Mark Leving, was also on hand to celebrate this milestone by officially cutting a celebration cake.

Hull Trains has had plenty to celebrate in recent months with a series of successes, including being named Best Train Company by readers of the Guardian and the Observer in the prestigious Guardian & Observer Travel Awards ceremony alongside other major players in the travel industry.

Hull Trains actually began with only five members of staff employed by the company and based at the Hull office. They began operating between Hull and London with three trains a day from Monday to Friday, with two a day at the weekend. Services gradually increased and the company welcomed its one millionth passenger in August 2004. May 2005 saw the brand new fleet of Class 222 Pioneer trains come into use, following investment of some £36 million.

A series of ceremonies were held to name the new trains after pioneering figures of Hull to reflect how proud the company is to be a part of the modern history and the future of its home city.

Most recently, in June 2005, a new weekday service was added, doubling the number of weekday services since the company formed. The organisation now employs over 70 back-office and frontline staff; the vast majority of which originate from the City of Hull.

Hull Trains Managing Director, Mark Leving, is extremely proud of how the company has grown since he joined the firm in 2003. He commented: “Although everyone always had the highest of expectations for the company, no-one could have predicted the success the Hull Trains has achieved in just five years.

“2005 has been an incredibly exciting year for the company, with the introduction of our new fleet of trains, the introduction of further services and having our own passengers name us as the Best Train Operator at a recent awards ceremony.

“I feel that the success of Hull Trains cannot be put down to just one element. The consistently high levels of customer service that we provide could not be achieved without a first class team and I honestly believe that we have one of the most talented and dedicated teams in the industry, in the office, in the maintenance department and on-board the trains themselves. However, we could not exist without the backing of the local community and we are grateful to all of our passengers for their continued support and loyalty.

“Looking to the future, we are continually working to develop the services that we provide, both in terms of customer care and the number of services that we offer. Everyone at Hull Trains is more confident now than ever before that the company will continue to go from strength to strength with each passing birthday.”

Railnews Archive ::: 2005-09-30 HUL-001

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