All aboard! School's cafe puts career hopes on track

Head teacher Tim Williams had big plans for the carriage when it was lowered by crane into the playground

A special needs school in Maidstone has opened a cafe in a train carriage to offer on-the-job training.

The Mark 2 First Class Fawrient Express coach has been transformed into a Costa Coffee, where the chain's professional staff are teaching hospitality skills before it opens to the public.

Students at the Five Acre Wood School will have access to the carriage either to prepare them for a career in the hospitality sector or to socialise.

Head teacher Tim Williams said: "The vision was an authentic trading cafe that would give our young people hospitality training skills to get them into the world of work."

The 64ft (19.5m) buffet car, which is about 50 years old, was lowered by crane into the playground last August, repainted in the school's colours and given a bespoke interior.

Mr Williams said: "What we wanted it to feel like was something really special.”

The train carriage was painted in the school's colours

The cafe has a preparation and serving area at one end of the carriage and a relaxed section with a blue and wood interior at the other.

The story of the carriage's transformation is told along the length of the train and a wall of fame mentions the supporters who have helped keep the project on track.

Jeremy Harris, from Restoring Homes, who created the interior, said: "It took four, 12-yard skips to clear it because it was in a little bit of a mess because it dates from 1974. These trains were built to never come apart."

The carriage can now be used for training or as a space for socialising

The carriage was given a bespoke new interior as part of its transformation

Principal Peggy Murphy said: "Anything new is brilliant and there are no impossibles for our pupils.”

Mr Harris added: “People don’t expect it to look the way it is when you walk inside.

"They expect it to look like a greasy café, but it doesn’t. I wanted it to have a wow factor.”