Smiling Faces on the Malmesbury School Express

c2c, Britain's most punctual railway, brought a smile to the faces of pupils from Malmesbury School when it fulfilled a promise made last year to run three special trains to Chalkwell and give the children a day out by the sea side.

Group Station Manager Iain Palmer, with colleagues Sue, Stacey, Karen and Gill were on hand to greet the first party when it arrived at Upminster station on Thursday 12 July, and last year's tears of disappointment were this year changed to beaming faces as the train rolled into Upminster station to pick up 150 excited children and their teachers. The train then took the children on a ride through the Essex countryside and along the coast to their destination at Chalkwell where the children were able to spend 5 hours on the beach. To ensure the VIPs were well looked after Iain and colleagues travelled with the party on the train.

On the return Stacey and Sue were on hand to meet the party, this time with a surprise goody bag for each of the children which they handed out for the homeward journey.

Commenting on the special trains, c2c's route Director Kevin Frazer said, I am delighted that the parties from Malmesbury School enjoyed their day out. After the problems of last year when the trains did not run, everyone on c2c was determined that this year the children would have a trip they would not forget in a hurry. We pulled out all the stops to make this happen and we are now as happy as the children that such a good time was had by all.

For many children a ride on a train is a treat in itself and to have one all to themselves was a bonus. It was a great pleasure for us to provide these VIPs with an air-conditioned train with plenty of room to move about during the 25 minute journey to Chalkwell. The excited faces as the train arrived at Upminster and the happy faces when it arrived back there was are reward in itself for all of us at c2c.

We hope also that the children have learned how pleasant and safe it is to travel by rail provided it is treated with respect and that they enjoy many more journeys with us. We also hope that they enjoy their summer holiday which is about to start.

When Kevin said c2c was pulling out all the stops he really meant it. There are two more Malmesbury Expresses to run, one on 18 and one on 19 July. Only the day before the first train was to run, c2c learned that the children would be travelling from Bow Road (just 6 stops on the district line before c2c's interchange at Barking). Immediately plans were made to bring the first party back to Barking and to arrange for the second and third parties to travel to and from Barking. At c2c we like to think of ourselves as the convenient railway, and for a school located in East London and wishing to take children to Chalkwell, Barking is a much more convenient starting and finishing point than Upminster, not to mention saving some 15-20 minutes journey time in each direction. As soon as we were aware of the situation everyone set to work to alter the arrangements from Upminster to Barking.

Commenting on the day out, Head teacher Joanne Clensy said, A huge 'Thank You' to c2c for making the children's trip to the seaside an overwhelming success. The children were very impressed by the 'Malmesbury Express' (especially the Harry Potter lovers) and being treated as such VIPs .