Virgin Trains rename Pendolino to mark Cumbrian resilience
United midfielder Antony Sweeney attended the official unveiling of the newly named Virgin Trains Pendolino ‘The Cumbrian Spirit’ at Carlisle station on Thursday afternoon, on behalf of the club, ahead of its inaugural journey to London under its new title.
The renaming ceremony, attended by Storm Desmond flood victims and community figures, saw Andrew Hunter of Grasmere Gingerbread unveil the new plaque beside Ann Doran, General Manager with Virgin Trains.
Sweeney said: “We saw first hand the devastation the floods caused when we went out into the community to help with the initial stages of the clean-up.
“This is a fantastic thing Virgin Trains has done and the name ‘The Cumbrian Spirit’ really does capture the way the people of this region reacted to and dealt with what was a horrible event.”
Ann Doran said: “The whole community rallied round during the floods and here at Virgin Trains we turned one of our Pendolinos into a hotel for the night as we knew that so many people needed immediate help.
“We cooked them breakfast the next morning and the positive attitude we saw was clearly evident, even at that stage. We wanted to create a lasting memory of the spirit we have seen across Cumbria and we think this will help us to achieve that.”
