EnterTrainment

#IAmTrainSafe

How much do you know about train safety? Would you know what to do if you came across a level crossing?

Join Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page and Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas and test your knowledge of the tracks.

Did you know that the third rail looks just like an ordinary rail and carries 750 volts? Or that an average passenger train weighs as much as 80 elephants?

Learn about these facts and much, much more by watching the #IAmTrainSafe video here.

With thanks to Network Rail Wales and Western, Transport For Wales and British Transport Police for helping you to stay train safe.

Kids’ Stuff activity sheets

Children will be gripped by Kids’ Stuff - pages crammed full of fun activities ranging from spot the difference to quizzes, jokes and fun facts.

We’ve got a series of activity sheets which have been taken from our quarterly on-board magazine Escape and repurposed to help those at home stay #GWREnterTrained. Download and enjoy online or print in colour or black and white.

Download your Kids’ Stuff activity sheets here:

• Activity sheet 1
• Activity sheet 2
• Activity sheet 3
• Activity sheet 4

Young Great Westerners

Come with us on a journey of discovery and learning.

Go on rail-inspired Storytelling Adventures or run the Great Western Railway in a STEM-based digital game, while you visit some amazing places.

It’s time to climb aboard and choose your ticket here.

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GWR Brain Train

Take the Brain Train and test your knowledge of the Great Western Railway.

Work your way through these 20 multiple-choice quiz questions and see whether you’ve got a brain to match the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Download the GWR Brain Train here and don’t forget to ask an adult if you need some help researching the answers. Good luck!

GWR Anagrams

Train your brain with these mind-boggling #GWRAnagrams. All 15 are stations on the GWR network but have been jumbled up to test your thinking skills.

You might want to set a timer to see how long it takes to solve the puzzles. If you’re faster than an Intercity Express Train, why not challenge someone in your family to see if they can unravel the stations any quicker?

Take the #GWRAnagrams challenge.

Download all the answers.

Guess the station

Can you guess the GWR stations from these emojis? We’re sure you’ll find some of them easy, but others might require a real test of your patience.

All 12 are stations stretching the length and breadth of the GWR network. Just say what you see and hopefully you’ll come up trumps with the right answer.

Take the #GWRGuessTheStation challenge.

Download all the answers.

Train Managers of the future

Calling all kids. Do you dream of working on the trains one day? Why not practise your skills and record your very own Train Manager announcement?

You can even dress up in your best Train Manager uniform to announce your favourite journey.

Be sure to make your announcement clear and concise and try to be as friendly and informative as possible.

For a little inspiration, check out the winning entries from our summer 2020 competition here.

It’s Trackanory time

Are you sitting comfortably? Then enjoy children’s TV presenter Naomi Wilkinson reading the six winning entries from our short-story competition.

Our Trackanory videos include a story about smuggled goods, a Zoom to the Moon, a Pugtastic Festival, a trip to Florida, a Magical Train Adventure and a ride on an Animal Train.

Naomi was wowed by the brilliantly-imaginative minds of all our entrants in a competition for five to 11-year-olds.

Enjoy the videos.

Take a cab ride with GWR

Enjoy this view from the driver’s cab on our first-ever SuperFast Intercity Express Train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.

Watch as the train calls at Bristol Parkway before travelling direct to the capital on the first day of our new timetable in December last year.

For a bit of extra fun try answering these ten questions.

GWR Train Teasers

Test your maths skills and knowledge of the Great Western network with these fun GWR Train Teasers. A distances chart has been simplified and designed with children in mind to help you work out the miles between some of the stations on the GWR network.

Download the GWR Train Teasers here and don’t forget to ask an adult if you need some help researching the answers.

Design a special train livery

Show your support for the NHS and other key workers by designing your own special Intercity Express Train livery.

To show your thanks in a BIG way, download the train outline here, create your special design and then display it in your window. It’s just for fun but remember to share your creations with us, including #GWREnterTrainment in your message.

Stay at Home. Save Lives.

Walk The Line Quiz

We’re journeying back through the #GWaRchives to revisit our ‘Walk The Line’ films – and have added a series of fun questions for children to answer.

They’re simple enough but you’ll need to watch closely… you may even have to replay them once or twice. There are nine films in total, each with a set of questions, as we follow in the footsteps of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and journey from Bristol to London.

View the videos here.

Iron Horses of the West

Here are the Iron Horses of the West, a series of colouring sheets celebrating the incredible creativity found across the Great Western region. Created with Bristol-based street artist Andy Council, the following pages will have you revelling in the joys of ferroequinology (the study of railways) like never before.

Download your favourite locomotives to begin your journey exploring the timeless beauty of the region, and be inspired by the engineering excellence of the trains that connected it to the rest of Britain. Download the story of each locomotive here.

Download the GWR colouring-in book.

Our named trains

The Great Western Railway has a long and proud history of naming trains after Great Westerners – the past and present heroes from across our network.

Our fleet of Intercity Express Trains have their own identity, with the hero’s name accompanied by an individual coin designed to reflect the person themselves. This is inspired by GWR’s heritage, where the flagship locomotive King George V bore a set of commemorative coins.

The trains that we have already named are featured on our website and include information on each person as well as pictures and videos from the ceremonies. Find out more about our named trains.