A five-year-old Lancashire boy has had a day to remember when Avanti West Coast invited him to become a rookie trainee driver for a day.

After Avanti West Coast discovered his love of Pendolinos, they invited five-year-old Daniel Rogerson from Standish near Wigan, to visit its driving school in Crewe as part of a surprise visit for the train superfan.

Daniel has loved trains from a very young age, and when he was aged one, his mum gave him a wooden train track, which has now expanded to fill the family’s living room.

Daniel’s passion began when he could watch Avanti West Coast’s iconic Pendolinos from the window of his previous family home which backed onto the West Coast Main Line.

When Daniel isn’t playing with his cherished railway track he spends hours with his grandad seeing the trains pass through his local station.

His favourite activity is his love of riding on a Pendolino, and his mum regularly takes him on rail trips between Wigan and Lancaster so he can experience the high-speed journeys in the comfort of a train carriage.

Daniel’s mum followed his enthusiasm for trains having a bed specially made for him by a local furniture painting business, Octavia Chic, in the shape of a Pendolino.

It was Avanti West Coast’s social media team who spotted Daniel’s train-shaped bed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) and offered him the chance to become a train driver for the day.

At Avanti West Coast’s Driver Training Centre the Talent Academy, Daniel was given the chance to take a test drive on the simulator and sit in the driver’s cab of its training Pendolino.

Daniel was also taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of Crewe station, including visiting the announcer’s office, taught him how to despatch a train, and inevitably plenty of time for transporting.

Earlier this month, Avanti West Coast through its ‘Train Buddies’ project gave members of a charity’s activity groups day trips by train from Crewe to Blackpool for a day by the sea, and in July ten students from a Coventry school enjoyed a day out at Avanti West Coast’s Oxley depot in Wolverhampton..

We had a great time welcoming Daniel to our driving school for the day.

“With Daniel having so much love for trains it was brilliant to give him the chance to experience what it’s like to be in the driver’s cab with his mum. He seemed right at home and impressed us with his knowledge, as well as eagerness to learn!

Natalie Whitehouse, Head of Learning and Development at Avanti West Coast

Daniel loves to watch trains – whether it’s from the nearby train bridge or on YouTube. So, being given the opportunity to become a rookie train driver was amazing! It’s an experience we’ll never forget! After his time at Avanti West Coast’s driving school, I couldn’t be more certain he’s destined to be a train driver.

Elaine Rogerson, Daniel’s mum