The railway network in Britain is going to get brighter thanks to a EWS rail freight locomotive having been specially re-painted in honour of the work undertaken by Teenage Cancer Trust.

The colourful bright blue locomotive, Class 60 No. 60074 Teenage Spirit, was unveiled by Emmerdale’s Chris Chittel (aka Eric Pollard) at a special ceremony at the National Railway Museum in York on Saturday 1st March.

As a tonne of freight moved by rail emits five times less CO2 than the same tonne moved by road, the locomotive will not only help reduce carbon emissions but will also act as a powerful advertisement for Teenage Cancer Trust as it hauls freight across all parts of Britain.

Hundreds of thousands of railway passengers a year will see the locomotive as it passes through their stations, and it is expected that children across the nation will enjoy looking out for this unique and bright locomotive.

The idea to put Teenage Cancer Trust’s identity onto the railway came from Geoff Spencer, Director Resources at EWS. Geoff said: “I’ve been involved with Teenage Cancer Trust for many years, supporting them where I can on a personal level. Thinking how this support could be taken further, I thought that as EWS freight trains are seen by millions of people a year, a special locomotive dedicated to Teenage Cancer Trust would be a powerful travelling advertisement for them.”

Lucy Jackson, Head of Communications for Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “Teenage Cancer Trust is thrilled that EWS has generously painted one of its freight locomotives in a special livery for our charity. This will be seen by people right across Britain and will significantly increase the work of our charity. This clearly demonstrates that there are many different ways to support Teenage Cancer Trust as we work to improve the lives of children and young adults with cancer.”

Six teenagers are diagnosed with cancer each day, but these young patients don’t stop being teenagers just because they get cancer. Teenage Cancer Trust ensures that young cancer patients get the best possible care in hospital and the chance to do all the things that other teenagers do.

Teenage Cancer Trust funds specialist teenage cancer units in NHS hospitals. The aim is to give every young person with cancer access to a unit, improving their survival rates – which means opening 14 units by 2012. It costs around £2million to open a new unit, all of which has to be raised. TCT currently has eight units.