PUPILS from Prudhoe Community High School have been developing ideas for how rail travel could look in the future.

A group of Year 10 pupils attended Newcastle College Rail Academy last Tuesday for an innovation day event in preparation for the national TeenTech awards.

The students were invited to develop ideas which would improve rail experience for passengers, staff and operators.

They are now invited to submit entries for the new ‘Future of Rail’ category at the TeenTech Awards, which culminate in a showcase day at the Royal Society in London on June 25.

The new category is being sponsored by the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership and Cross Country. It challenges the nation’s youth to think of fresh and pioneering ideas to transform the rail transport sector.

Welcoming the new category, TeenTech CEO and former Tomorrow’s World reporter Maggie Philbin OBE, said: “We are delighted to introduce this new category.

“The rail industry is an exciting place to work, but so many opportunities are completely invisible, not only to students but to their parents and teachers.”

Speaking about the innovation day, Tim Smith, engineering teacher at Prudhoe Community High School, said: “We were delighted to be invited along to this exciting day, not least because Prudhoe, and especially Wylam, where many of our pupils come from, is the birthplace of the railway.”

At Newcastle College’s Rail Academy, the pupils also learnt about opportunities for a railway career.

Bailey Maughan (15), one of the students who attended the day, said: “I was surprised at just how many different career options there are to do with railways and how many jobs there are for engineers.

“It definitely wasn’t something I’d considered until today. It sounds really exciting but very hard work, especially in the snow like today.”