Press Release from the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway - Iris receives EMT livery

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Cementing the Alliance
Iris the Railcar receives East Midlands Trains livery

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10451377/Ir...0130401sml.jpg

Wirksworth, 1 April 2013: To celebrate the inclusion of the Wirksworth Branch in East Midlands Trains’ May timetable, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway has re-liveried its most historic DMU in the East Midlands Trains livery.

Thanks to EMT, it has been possible to buy a through ticket to Wirksworth, Idridgehay and Shottle since the line opened to Duffield in 2011. Now, from May, the EMT timetable for services from Nottingham and Derby to Matlock will include the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: the first time the Wirksworth Branch has featured in a regional timetable since 1947.

To celebrate the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway’s alliance with East Midlands Trains, historic ‘Derby Lightweight’ railcar M79900, ‘Iris’ to her friends, has been re-liveried in the full EMT livery. A rapid re-livery exercise was performed by the railway’s volunteers in conditions of utmost secrecy at Wirksworth station, the process using the skills of Andrew Fowler, Heritage News Editor of Railway Herald Magazine.

“We are delighted to re-livery Iris in East Midlands Trains livery” remarked Neil Ferguson-Lee of the Ecclesbourne Valley railway. “Iris is very much our flagship and it is very appropriate for her to adopt EMT’s livery to reflect the close relationship we have with our favourite train operating company” he added.

Iris will return to her traditional livery of British Railways green in the near future.

Ends.