Media centre

Friday 14 Jul 2006

BATH PASSENGERS COME FACE TO FACE WITH BRUNEL

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Thousands of passengers at Bath Spa railway station will be coming face to face with the achievements of one of the greatest engineers in history over the next two weeks.  The ‘Discover the Legacy’ exhibition, dedicated to Isambard Kingdom Brunel to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth, will be on display for all visitors to Bath Spa Station. Roy Hamlin, Network Rail’s General Manager for the West Country, said: “The West Country has the unique honour of safeguarding much of Brunel’s legacy – not only his original drawings but also structures such as the Box Tunnel and Bath Spa Station itself.”  “Our engineers still use Brunel’s original drawings in their day-to-day jobs, so it is only fitting that we are involved in these celebrations.” The stands include rarely-seen drawings and plans by Brunel from Network Rail’s own archive, commissioned photographs and information about the great man and ‘pearls’ of the Great Western route. The Chairman of Bath & North East Somerset Council, Councillor Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst, who recently hosted a Reception for Network Rail on the 165th anniversary of the first train arriving in Bath, said “We are delighted to have this wonderful exhibition in Bath and North East Somerset and to have the opportunity to acknowledge Brunel’s contribution to our history.”     Following its launch at Paddington Station, this unique exhibition will be at Bath Spa Station from Saturday 15 July – Sunday 30 July and will then travel to Reading Station, Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth Station, finishing at Swindon Steam Museum.