Meet Tabitha! The Llandudno pupil who won contest to name new train

Tabitha Shields, who attends Ysgol Tudno in Llandudno, was picked as one the winners of Transport for Wales’ (TFW) Magnificent Train Journey competition. The contest was organised to name TfW' brand new £800m Class 197 fleet.

The new trains entered into passenger service on the Conwy Valley line at the end of 2022 and were unveiled at a ceremony at Llandudno railway station today (Thursday, January 26); Minister for North Wales, Lesley Griffiths, carried out the official launch. She was joined by James Price, Transport for Wales CEO.

Minister for North Wales, Lesley Griffiths. (Image: Ryan Lloyd)

Tabitha's winning entry was ‘Happy Valley.'

Tabitha, who is in year five, said: "It was lock down and I was in year three and we were on this website called Seesaw when the teacher posted work on there. And what the teacher, Mrs Roberts, recommended to me was the competition and I won. 

"The entry said that we could do a picture, story or a poem and I decided to do a poem and decided we should name the train Happy Valley."

Minister Lesley Griffiths MS and James Price, Transport for Wales CEO, at the ceremony in Llandudno ahead of the unveiling of the 'Happy Valley' name. (Image: Suzanne Kendrick)

When asked why she chose Happy Valley, Tabitha smiled and replied: "I can't remember!"

She said seeing the name 'Happy Valley' on the train had been "exciting". 

"I was like woo," she added.

"My friends have been like 'Tabitha, you are famous.'"

When asked how she felt about seeing the name 'Happy Valley' on the train for many years to come, she said: "I feel like.. oh gosh, this is like fabulous."

RELATED STORIES

• Unveiling of first brand new Transport for Wales trains - Llandudno
• New Class 197 train on Conwy Valley Line welcomes first passengers

The brand-new trains will play a key role in TfW’s plans to transform the customer experience on its services. (Image: Ryan Lloyd.)

Built in Wales by leading train manufacturer CAF, the 77 (51 two-car and 26 three-car) new Class 197 trains will become the "backbone" of TfW’s services across the length and breadth of the Wales and Borders network in the coming years.

The new trains offer leather seats, modern air conditioning systems, wider doors and customer information screens. They provide an increase in capacity and will allow TfW to run faster and more frequent services to destinations such as Holyhead, Fishguard and Liverpool.

Tabitha Shields. (Image: Ryan Lloyd)

For the train naming contest, children were asked to come up with names based on either a real place, landmark, historical site or mythical figure associated with places in Wales and its border regions. There also had to submit something creative, such as a poem, story or picture, to explain why they chose that name.

A look inside one of the new TfW trains. (Image: Ryan Lloyd)

CBeebies star Grace Webb, S4C presenter Trystan Ellis-Morris, Children’s Laureate for Wales Eloise Williams, and Bardd Plant Cymru Gruffudd Owen helped judge the competition.