"To Infinity and Beyond - via the North of England"

TRAIN operator, Northern has marked National Engineering Day, on 2 November 2022, with the completion of its 1st 'Intelligent Train' makeover. The Class 150 Unit has been kitted out with LIDAR horizon scanning cameras; the same used by NASA to map the surface of the moon; a radar dome, 180 degree thermal imaging software, acoustic monitors, a G-Shock Bogie and an AI camera. It is the operator's 'proof of concept' train and 1 of Northern's fleet of 345 trains to be armed with the new technology, which is designed to make journeys by railway safer and more efficient.

The train is set to operate services across the Northern network, including:- Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire, for the next 3 months. Data captured during this trial will inform the roll out of the Intelligent Trains programme and support the business case for the scheme. You can watch time lapse footage of the technology being installed on the train here. Jack Commandeur, engineering Director at Northern said:- "This is an exciting moment for all of us here at Northern. Our 'Intelligent Trains' won't just travel the network, they will actively monitor and report back on issues that could have an impact on our operation. The result will be greater efficiencies in terms of resource allocation, faster responses in terms of maintenance programmes and an overall smarter; and safer; way of working."

The 'Intelligent Trains' makeover took place at Northern's TrainCare Centre, in Newton Heath, Greater Manchester. You can watch a summary of the Intelligent Trains programme below...

Northern's 'Intelligent Trains' programme is being delivered in partnership with:- Network Rail, Belvoir Rail, Yellow Rail and Modux.

National Engineering Day is a Royal Academy of Engineering led initiative that aims to make the UK's engineers and engineering more visible and celebrate how their work improves everyday lives and shapes the world around us.

Northern is the 2nd largest train operator in the UK, with Nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.

Community food spaces unite for urgent fundraising music festival 'Food Aid Liverpool'

LIVERPOOL'S independent community food spaces are beyond capacity and in urgent need of funds and food donations to cope with ever increasing demand.

Many people in Liverpool struggle to access good nutritious food. With the impact of the cost of living crisis it is estimated 1 in 3 people are now cutting back on heating, hot water, electricity or skipping meals to pay their bills.

To help support and raise awareness around food inequality, The Florrie and Feeding Liverpool together are partnering with many food spaces right across Liverpool to host a fundraising music festival on:- Saturday, 1 April 2023; Food Aid Liverpool. Tickets go on sale 9am, on:- Friday, 4 November 2022, at:- FoodAidLiverpool.Co.UK.

The event will feature many of the UK's best tribute artists who include:- Queen II, Ultimate Coldplay, The Cavern Club Beatles, Arctic Roll, Katy Ellis - Taylor Swift, Spice Girls Experience, LMXT - Little Mix, Northern Soul Train and Midnight Soul Sisters to name, but a few. Liverpool's finest emerging talent and DJs will also feature.

Food Aid Liverpool aims to raise urgent funds and food donations to support access to and the take up of healthy food and to create greater awareness about the rise in food inequalities.

Laurence Fenlon from The Florrie says:- "The moment we had to turn people away, as we could no longer cope with demand, we knew something urgent had to be done to help the people and families of our communities. We quickly realised this wasn't just our issue but the entire City's, which urged us to create Food Aid Liverpool to hopefully end food poverty in our City and raise urgent funds through the festival."

Find out how you can further support Food Aid Liverpool and get involved by visiting:- FoodAidLiverpool.Co.UK.