A right Royal welcome awaits train passengers coming to Hartlepool

The tracks will be alive with The Sound of Music as Hartlepool's railway station gets ready to mark the Queen's 90th birthday.
The Friends of Hartlepool Station who are planning a Royal musical welcome for passengers.The Friends of Hartlepool Station who are planning a Royal musical welcome for passengers.
The Friends of Hartlepool Station who are planning a Royal musical welcome for passengers.

Get along this Saturday for a feast of music, bunting, and stalls - all organised by the The Friends of Hartlepool Station.

They will be decking out the venue with bunting as they prepare to join in with the rest of the UK’s rail network celebration of the Queen’s milestone 90th birthday.

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Entertainment will be provided by The Hartlepool Community Choir, The Ukelear Power Group and the English Martyrs Band.

A flower stall and sweet stall will be there as well as displays highlighting the work of the Friends of Hartlepool Station, the Grand Central Ambassadors and Coastliners groups.

There’s also a chance to buy items linked to the rail industry.

Mike Anderson, the secretary of the Friends of Hartlepool Station (FOHS), said it was “proud to be able to contribute to this memorable event and welcome everyone, not just passengers to come and enjoy this special occasion on Saturday, June 11.”

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Performances are scheduled to incorporate train arrivals and departures.

FOHS is a voluntary, unfunded organisation which was set up in 2008 and has adopted Hartlepool Railway Station.

It has a solid core of 12 regular members and the group views the station as an integral part of the community.

They want the station to be an inviting, presentable and first class departure and arrival point for passengers that creates “a lasting, positive impression of our town.”

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Representatives of Arriva Rail North periodically attend its meetings which are held every two months.

Hartlepool travellers boarding Grand Central trains will also be familiar with FOHS members. They are also Ambassadors who meet and greet passengers travelling on Grand Central services on Sundays when the station is unmanned.

Also on Sundays, volunteers sweep up, do litter picking, maintain the cleanliness of the station and look after the general tidiness of the platform areas.

Anyone wanting more information should visit www.friendsofhartlepoolstation.co.uk.

The musical timetable.

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The 8.55am King’s Cross, 9.02am Newcastle and 9.15am Middlesbrough service will get to enjoy music from the Ukelear Power Group which will be performing from 8.35am to 9.20am;

The 10.02am Newcastle and 10.15am Middlesbrough trains will be welcomed by the Ukelear Power Group in its stint from 9.45am to 10.20am;

The 11.02am Newcastle, 11.15am Middlesbrough, and 11.24am Sunderland services can hear the music of the English Martyrs Band which will perform from 10.45m to 11.30am;

And the 12.45pm King’s Cross, 1.02pm Newcastle and 1.15pm Middlesbrough services will be treated to performances from the Hartlepool Community Choir which will be performing from 12.20pm to 1.20pm.