Pizzazz and panache will be brought to the Govia Thameslink Railway’s travel messages as Brighton’s two most iconic drag queens take on the task

Stephen Richards and Jason Sutton better known as Lola Lasagne and Miss Jason have been wowing the UK drag scene for more than 25 years with regular shows in Brighton and beyond.

The talented two have such incredibly unique and recognisable voices that Govia Thameslink jumped at the opportunity to work with them for the special-edition station announcements which will no doubt be a massive hit as Pride draws closer, taking place from the 5th to the 7th of August.

The announcement will also provide a fantastic reminder for passengers to check their travel plans ahead of making their journeys during the event.

Ryan Massen, Southern Station Manager at Brighton and part of GTR’s Pride-planning team, said: ‘Brighton and Hove Pride is an event we look forward to every year at GTR and we can’t wait to welcome it back to the city next weekend. We’re doing lots to help people travel safely by train and we thought,

‘What better way to spread our travel messages this year than with the help of two well-known and much-loved drag performers?’

‘If you’re waiting for a train in the southern part of our network, then listen closely to station announcements from Monday 1st August as you may just hear a voice you recognise! Lola Lasagne and Miss Jason have been fabulous to work with and we can’t wait to see them at the event.’

Govia Thameslink Railway has also revealed that it will operate enhanced services across Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink during Pride weekend, extra staff will also be working at Brighton station to support festival goers to travel safely.

The rail operator will also see the return of its colour-coded queuing system which was first used back in 2019 and works as follows:

• The blue queue is for customers travelling on the Brighton Main Line heading up to Haywards Heath, Gatwick Airport and London.
• The purple queue is for customers travelling on the West Coastway for stations towards Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing and Chichester.
• The green queue is for customers travelling on the East Coastway for stations towards Lewes, Seaford and Eastbourne.

Stephen Richards, who performs as Lola Lasagne, commented: ‘I regularly travel through Brighton station, so the chance to record my own PA announcements was too exciting to turn down! People from all over the UK travel to Brighton for Pride weekend and these messages help to welcome everyone to our glorious hometown.’

Jason Sutton, who performs as Miss Jason, also added: ‘Well you know us drag queens – never ones to turn down an opportunity to get on the mic! It was so much fun running riot at Brighton station for the day and recording our own announcements. Huge thanks to GTR for letting us do our thing and for all their help in getting people to and from Pride.’

Govia Thameslink Railway will once again have a float in the Brighton & Hove Pride Community Parade which has been designed by the rail operator’s LGBT+ network and will see volunteers from the networks alongside colleagues from the entire company.

To find out more about train services during Pride weekend, please visit: https://www.southernrailway.com