S&DR200 programme unveiled

Yesterday morning, 19 September 2024, the S&DR200 Festival programme was revealed at an event co-hosted by Railway 200 in the beautiful Darlington Hippodrome.

The ever-brilliant Steph McGovern hosted the event and festival director Niccy Hallifax, Alison Clark, Head of Culture, Leisure, Sport and Tourism at Durham County Council, representing the S&DR200 board, Sarah Price, head of Locomotion and Jake Kelly, Managing Director of Network Rail Eastern, representing Railway 200 all spoke.

Steph McGovern talked about how 2025 presented a unique opportunity for County Durham and Tees Valley, and her excitement being from the region, having grown up in Middlesbrough.

"Being Northerners, I don't think we shout enough about what we have achieved in the world." 

She recalled that taking her daughter on her first train journey, allowed her to feel the wonder of train travel again, through her eyes. All the things you can see out of the window, the speed, the activity and people-watching at the platforms.  

As Niccy, Festival Director, later reflected, the trains are deeply embedded in the nation's psyches and the pride in the past and the passion about what the future of train travel could be, came through all the presentations and the poem performed by Lizzie Lovejoy.

Trains play a big part in our lives and the festival hopes to tap into that emotional connection through nine months of jaw-dropping collective experiences, exhibitions, commission and community activity.  

"We want to deliver a festival that will spark renewed local, regional, national and international interest in the pioneering S&DR story, providing unforgettable experiences for all our visitors." Alison Clark, and Niccy Hallifax added "Local authorities and town councils will galvanise thousands to take part. We want everyone to understand the legacy of the railway and bring together the past and present."

Darlington poet Lizzie Lovejoy performed a poem, created that morning, as she collected stories and memories from fellow passengers on the 08.30 from London King Cross to Darlington. An extract below, to read the full XXX

From football to marriage,
These railways manage
to keep all our history
As more than memory
While we follow the melody
Of the tracks
Clickety clack.

Stations that are just a bench, or Crystal Palace grand.
Laying on a sleeper train or packed so tight you can hardly stand.
Station to station,
Changing your situation
By changing destination
With views of the sea and stars
And zooming cars
Close and far,
And I am so happy that we are

Here.

In Darlington.

Stockton to Darlington,
We carry on
Your traditions through lines that have shaped
Even how we travel to space.
In this place
The world has changed
In ways that cannot be reversed or re-arranged.