A ScotRail train named ‘Riverside Museum’ today (25 March) began transporting passengers across Scotland.
The naming, by FirstGroup, Britain’s biggest rail operator, was in honour of the new museum which will house Glasgow’s transport collections which are recognised as being of international importance.
FirstGroup is sole founder patron to the Riverside Museum Appeal.
Carol Smillie - one of the UK’s most sought after presenters and trustee of the Riverside Museum Appeal, revealed the train’s name at a special ceremony on Platform 5 at Glasgow’s Queen Street Station.
She said: “To have a train named after the Riverside Museum is a special honour that will help us remind people all over the country that Scotland’s Museum of Transport and Travel is opening in June. FirstGroup is sole founder patron to the Riverside Museum Appeal and this gesture is a continued measure of its unstinting backing. Every donation is being marked in the Riverside Museum and you still have time to make a donation and become part of it.”
Carol was joined at the unveiling by Sir Moir Lockhead, the former Chief Executive of FirstGroup – who minutes later was left astounded when a second train was named in his honour to mark his achievements after 22 years at the helm of the Aberdeen-based transport operator.
Sir Moir had been directed to another platform where, to his complete surprise, he unveiled a train bearing the title ‘Sir Moir Lockhead OBE’.
Initially lost for words, he then paid tribute to the quality of staff throughout his time as Chief Executive and said he was both surprised and delighted to receive such a public tribute.
Sir Moir Lockhead, explained why FirstGroup chose to name a train in honour of the Riverside Museum: “As the UK’s largest bus and rail operator it is fitting that we have played a part in the development of the transport museum. Indeed our funding brought back from South Africa - and restored - Loco 3007, the Museum’s centrepiece.”
He continued: “As the train passes through Scotland’s cities, towns, villages and countryside, it will remind people that from June Glasgow will boast the finest transport museum in the world.
“I am proud FirstGroup, through one of our rail franchises, ScotRail, will help raise awareness of the Riverside Museum.”
The train naming took place today (25 March) at 12.30pm at Glasgow’s Queen Street Station. At 1341 ‘Riverside Museum’, a Class 170, departed Queen Street carrying passengers to Aberdeen and stations in between.
Riverside Museum
Glasgow’s new £74million Riverside Museum will open to the public on the 21st of June 2011. The Zaha Hadid designed building will be the third home for Glasgow’s internationally recognised collection of Transport and Technology. The previous Museum of Transport attracted around 500,000 visitors a year and welcomed more than 10 million visitors during its 22 years at the Kelvin Hall.
The new museum will have around 3,000 exhibits in around 150 displays and will feature everything from steam locomotives and trams to subway carriages, bicycles and cars.
Anyone wishing to donate to the Riverside Museum Appeal can do so by visiting www.riversideappeal.org or, to make a £5 donation, text the word “Riverside” and your name to 70700.
Riverside Museum and FirstGroup
FirstGroup is sole founder patron to the Riverside Museum Appeal. The transport operator announced its support of the Riverside Museum in 2007. It provided the funding to bring Loco 3007 back to Glasgow. The “Mountain Class” engine – designed and built in Glasgow in 1945 for South Africa’s harsh terrain and vast distances – pulled the renowned Blue Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town until 1988 when mothballed.
The locomotive has undergone an extensive restoration, with help from six apprentices from ScotRail; Eura Conservation which is renowned for its conservation of historic and culturally-valuable metal artefacts, and a team from Glasgow Museums.
Sir Moir Lockhead (Full Biog Available on Request)
In 1989 Moir Lockhead, led an employee and management buy-out of the local authority owned Aberdeen bus company, which at the time boasted some 600 staff and 225 buses. Under Sir Moir’s guidance that company became FirstGroup and is now the UK’s largest bus and rail operator and the largest provide of student transportation in North America. Its revenues are more than £6bn a year, it employs 130,000 staff and moves some 2.5 billion passengers a year.