Former Pacer carriage which served Yorkshire for more than 30 years turned into science lab for students

A school in Bradford has now taken delivery of a former Pacer carriage which served northern communities for more than three decades.

It has been taken out of service and donated to Fagley Primary School in Bradford.

Donated by owner Porterbrook railway leasing firm, the carriage will be transformed into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) laboratory for students.

The school won the Pacer carriage in the Department for Transport (DfT) sponsored ‘Transform a Pacer’ competition. Fagley was selected for its creativity and their potential to engage with and serve the local community.

The 19-tonne vehicle was delivered to the school on a low-loader truck and placed on railway track donated by Network Rail.

Fagley Primary School is the first of three winners of the DfT Transform a Pacer competition to receive their carriage. The other winners are Airedale NHS Trust and Platform 1 – a Huddersfield mental health charity. They will receive their carriages in coming months.

Fagley headteacher Chris Parfitt said: “The staff and pupils of Fagley are incredibly excited about the delivery of the carriage, and the opportunities it will afford us to promote STEM learning.”

He said he was grateful to the DfT and Porterbrook. Porterbrook Chief Executive Mary Grant said: “Our Pacer trains have connected communities across Yorkshire over many years. Now that they have left frontline passenger service, I am proud that one of these vehicles will have a new lease of life supporting the education of young people.”