03 Feb 2023

The first brand new train unveiled by Transport for Wales has been named ‘Happy Valley’ following a national competition for young people.  

To celebrate the once-in-a-generation opportunity of brand new trains coming to Wales and the Borders, TfW ran a competition aimed at school children aged 4-11 to name the new trains. 

The ‘Magnificent Train Journey’ has been running for two years and encouraged children to come up with names based on a real place, landmark, historical site or mythical figure associated with places in Wales and the Borders.

CBeebies star Grace Webb and popular S4C presenter Trystan Ellis-Morris were among the judges for the exciting competition.

Tabitha Shields, a year five pupil at Tudno School in Llandudno, North Wales, wrote a poem named Happy Valley after the popular public gardens of the same name in the town.

After seeing her winning entry on the train, Tabitha said: “When I heard I won I was like wow, this is amazing!”

James Price, CEO of Transport for Wales added: “It’s been a great to launch our new trains that will help us transform transport for the people of Wales and the Borders.

“I’d like to congratulate Tabitha on her success in our competition. ‘Happy Valley’ is the first name given to our first train, which is a special moment. We’ll be introducing another 147 new trains and I look forward to seeing the names of them all.

“At TfW we’re building a transport network that is sustainable and fit for future generations.  We want to encourage more people to use public transport and there’s no better way to get future generations involved with what we’re doing, than asking them to help us name our trains.”  

The Class 197 trains, built in Wales by leading manufacturer CAF as part of an £800m investment in new trains by TfW, were launched last week at Llandudno railway station.