Railway remembers VE Day with a series of tributes
A national two-minute silence to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day was observed across the network at 1100 on May 8.
Even though stations are much quieter than usual and strict social distancing measures are being enforced, other special events to mark the cessation of hostilities in Europe included a performance of We’ll Meet Again by the D-Day Darlings at several major stations.
A collaboration with Imperial War Museums enabled its Voices of War soundscape of stories and experiences from 1945 to be shown on advertising screens at stations including Waterloo, London Victoria, Edinburgh Waverley and Bristol Temple Meads.
To salute the fallen heroes of the Second World War, train horns were sounded at 1500 at depots
and stations across the country - including at London Liverpool Street, Euston and Cleethorpes.
At Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley, the sounding of train horns was followed by a lone piper playing When the
Battle’s Over.
Wreathes were also laid by soldiers in uniform at war memorials at stations including London Bridge.
Network Rail Southern Region Manager John Halsall said: “Working for the railway gives everyone here a close connection to the past, as the history of our stations and tracks goes so deep and so far back.
“The railway lines we manage from London to the South Coast carried our soldiers to and from the front lines through the war.
The memorials at our stations are testament to the heroism showed by everyone on those trains and the men and women who kept Britain moving right through until the final acts of war in May 1945.”
West Coast Railways marked the occasion by naming 47245 VE Day 75th Anniversary.
The Class 47 was named without ceremony at the company’s Carnforth headquarters, but will carry its name across the country once the operator is able to run trains again. Currently WCR’s charter trains are suspended due to COVID-19.