Yorkshire residents celebrate the transformation of Northern's train carriages after Bradford hospital charity wins retired pacer carriage in 'Transform a Pacer' competition

Airedale Hospital and Community Charity won the retired pacer carriage in a competition run by the Department for Transport in 2019 and it is now set to be a non-clinical space for young people on the children’s ward and for those who visit paediatric outpatients. Residents of Keighley have celebrated its transformation.

Northern sponsored the pacer’s transformation through its customer and community innovation fund, which delivers projects that benefit the areas it serves across the north of England.

It has been renamed the Flying Dalesman and now has creative spaces, sensory zones, areas for reading and learning, an indoor tree as well as a garden courtyard.

The driver’s carriage has also been renovated, so that both parents and children can enjoy sitting in the front of the train.

Pacer trains, which were built between 1980 and 1987, were designed with similarities to a Leyland National bus.

Regional director at Northern, Tony Baxter, said: “This is a really unique communal space that will no doubt support the wellbeing of many people in the coming years.

“Our pacers gave many decades’ service and now that they’ve been replaced on our network by brand new trains, it’s great to see one of those old carriages being given a new lease of life.”

The project was a community effort with local company Ultimate (Commercial Interiors) Ltd, who along with its partners and suppliers, refurbished the train carriage.

The last pacer retired from the Northern network in 2020 and the train operator has introduced 101 brand new trains.

The new trains feature free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, at-seat power and customer information/media screens with real-time information. They are also more spacious and fully accessible, with spaces for wheelchairs and cycles.