Free books for young passengers from Grand Central on World Book Day

If you’re travelling northbound on Grand Central on World Book Day, be sure to pick up a copy of The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit or Topsy and Tim: Go On A Train by Jean Adamson. The rail company is giving away free copies of the beloved rail-themed books as part of the celebration, which takes place on 7 March.

The initiative is a partnership between Penguin Random House and the National Literacy Trust, who Grand Central has been working with since 2015.

As part of the ongoing partnership, Grand Central has taken schoolchildren on a Where's Wally?-themed train journey, transported kids to York to see astronaut Tim Peake's spacecraft on World Book Day and held creative writing sessions in its car-riages.

Sean English, Grand Central’s chief operating officer, says, “We're dedicated to raising literacy levels in the communities we serve and we're delighted to be part of the World Book Day story. It is great to be able to work with the National Literacy Trust and spread the joy of reading to our younger travellers.”

Jonathan Douglas, director of The National Literacy Trust, says, “We know that chil-dren who have books of their own do better at school and are happier with their lives. But one in eight disadvantaged children in the UK don’t have a single book of their own at home. In the true spirit of our partnership with Grand Central Rail, we are delighted to be bringing the joy of books and reading to so many children and young people this World Book Day.”

Last year, the National Literacy Trust celebrated its 25th anniversary and directly supported the literacy of 116,000 children and young people throughout the year, as well as supporting more than 5,500 schools and early years settings.

Notes to editors:

World Book Day is a registered charity whose mission is to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a worldwide UNESCO celebration of au-thors, illustrators, books and reading, marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which pro-vides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncas-ter and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services be-tween Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross.

Established in 2007, Grand Central celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. Custom-er satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the seventh year in a row.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers more than 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.

For further information on this or Grand Central’s community and stakeholder activity, please contact Hazel Davis – [email protected].

For all other Grand Central enquiries please contact Sarah Banks/Anna Hodg-son on 0191 261 4250, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]