Teen rail enthusiast from Merseyside given ‘behind the scenes’ tour of region’s railway command centre

Keiran Glover, 13, who lives in St Helens, has had a passion for trains since an early age and grew up close to St Helens Junction station in the town.

His visit to the Rail Operating Centre gave him the chance to see how train services are co-ordinated across the region

He met with operational and signalling teams who explained the various aspects of train scheduling, signal operations and safety protocols.

Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern, said: “Keiran has worked tirelessly with his fellow station adopters these past twelve months to help enhance the customer experience at St Helens Junction station.

“As a reward for his efforts, we were delighted to welcome him to our operations HQ so he can see how our services across the region come together.”

Lauryn Glover, Keiran's mother, said: "We really enjoyed our visit to the Rail Operating Centre. We learnt a lot while we were there - there's so much more that goes into it all than we realised, even Keiran who is the train enthusiast amongst us.

"I think it has given him even more things to think about career-wise. We feel really privileged to have been able to see 'behind the scenes' like this."

A member of the Friends of St Helens Junction volunteer group, Keiran was announced as Northern’s youngest station adopter in November 2023.

With fellow volunteers, including his mum Lauryn, Keiran is currently working on a photography project and developing the station garden.

Harrop added: “Our community partners are the heartbeat of the railway and we are extremely proud to work closely with them to deliver such a wide-ranging positive impact for the North of England.”

Northern operates more than 500 stations and over half of them have adoption groups. If you are interested in setting up your own station adoption group, please send an email to adopters@northernrailway.co.uk.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.