Grand Central proud headline sponsor of York Residents’ Festival

York based rail operator, Grand Central, is excited to be supporting the 25th York Residents’ Festival as headline sponsor.

The annual festival, which is organised by Make It York, is taking place this weekend and is organised as a ‘thank you’ to residents in York for the warm welcome they give to millions of visitors each year. 

People who live in York will have the opportunity to explore more than 100 attractions and sites around the city for free, with a valid YorkCard or student card. A range of dining and retail offers will be available in shops and food and drink outlets across the city, showcasing the range of fantastic local businesses on their doorstep. 

Grand Central is headline sponsor for the second year running – demonstrating its commitment to the city and the people who make it such a great place to live and work. The company transports around 450,000 people to and from York every year.

Throughout the weekend Grand Central will hand out branded goodie bags to visitors to the Residents’ Festival.

Liam Smallwood, Marketing Communications Executive at Grand Central, said: “As a proud York company, we are delighted to be headline sponsor of the York Residents’ Festival in its milestone anniversary year. The event is a fantastic opportunity for the people of York to become a tourist for the weekend and discover new places to visit and things to do. 

“Tourism is such a vital and thriving part of our city and we’re excited to be part of an event which gives something back to the people who make visitors to our beautiful city so welcome.”

Paul Whiting, Head of Marketing & Communications at Visit York said: “It’s the warm and friendly welcome of residents that continues to draw visitors back year after year. This festival is our way as an industry to say thank you for this, and to share the many special ‘Only In York’ experiences on offer, exclusively to residents.  With free entry to the city’s leading attractions and a host of special restaurant and shopping offers, there are so many fabulous experiences on offer for all the family to enjoy.” 

Residents must show a valid YorkCard or York Student ID to gain admission at each venue and for all shopping and restaurant offers. YorkCards are available from Explore York libraries. For more details about the attractions and offers available, please go to visityork.org/residentsfestival 

To find out more about Grand Central, please visit www.grandcentralrail.com, or follow the railway company on Twitter @GC_Rail, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Download the Grand Central app for a faster and more convenient way to buy train tickets. For more information, visit: www.grandcentralrail.com/app 

Notes to editors:

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company was named Britain’s best value rail operator for the eighth time in Spring 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey.

Grand Central operates West Riding services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross. Grand Central will start operating services on the North West between Blackpool, Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham and Wesham, Preston, Nuneaton, Milton Keynes and London Euston from Spring 2020.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group. Arriva is one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing over 53,000 people and delivering 2 billion passenger journeys a year across 14 European countries. We are part of Deutsche Bahn (DB), one of the world’s leading passenger and logistics companies, and are responsible for DB's regional passenger transport services outside Germany.

For further information, please contact:
Sarah Banks/Anna Hodgson
PR Account Director
0191 261 4250
GrandCentral@gardiner-richardson.com
sarahb@gardiner-richardson.com 
annah@gardiner-richardson.com