British rolling stock company Porterbrook is giving their end-of-useful-life trains a second chance at life by donating them to community-based organisations such as the emergency services in order to create alternative spaces.

The project aims to see vehicles repurposed in order to support organisations including heritage railways, schools or hospitals comes as part of the Department for Transport’s Transform a Pacer competition which saw Porterbrook donate 3 of the retired units to community groups in the north of the country.

Mental health charity, Platform 1 is one organisation which received a Pacer as part of the competition.

The charity provides counselling for people in mental health crisis, mental health awareness courses and workshops in schools.

The Platform 1 Pacer had seen 30 years of service before its retirement and had travelled over 3,161,000 miles and is now based at Huddersfield station, providing the charity with a safe space for learning, counselling and support.

2023 Saw the opening of a repurposed Pacer as a library and STEAM classroom in Northumberland. Porterbrook donated the two-car Pacer in 2021 to the Dales School, a school for children with special educational needs.

The train underwent an incredible transformation, creating a special space supporting a good number of the students who have never been on a real train to enjoy independent train travel and railway safety sessions.

The Airedale Hospital and Community Charity also opened a converted Pacer last year. During its working life, the train was fittingly named ‘The Flying Dalesman’ and worked up an amazing 3,161,390 miles of service.

Keeping its name, the Pacer has now reopened as a fun space which will support the youngest patients of the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and features bean bags, a Nintendo Switch, a library and a private sensory room creating a useful non-clinical space for those with additional needs.

“The wellbeing and experience of our patients is crucial to us, and The Flying Dalesman is the perfect space for children to forget any anxiety they may have when they come to the hospital for appointments.”

Foluke Ajayi, Chief Executive of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

Porterbrook is keen to make sure that vehicles are recycled for those which require disposal, and working with their main disposal supplier has achieved an impressive 91% recycle rate for end-of-life rolling stock.