A SPECIAL edition rainbow train has been unveiled in time for this year’s Brighton Pride.

Dubbed “Trainbow” by GTR staff, the multi-coloured carriages will be part of the company’s Thameslink fleet.

It was designed by 21-year-old Maggie Luckhurst, GTR’s design and content apprentice and a member of its LGBT+ network.

She said: “This was a really special project to work on for me and I’m grateful that I got to work alongside many other fantastic people in the company.

“I’ve always had a huge interest in the railways so to be able to combine that with my creativity in this job has been a dream.

“I’ll be keeping an eye out for this train on my commute.

“Whether you’re a member of the LGBT+ community or not, I hope that the train brings joy to everyone who sees it and that it also raises awareness of LGBT+ issues.”

The company said the 12-carriage train was designed to “celebrate the rail company’s thriving LGBT+ community”.

Brighton and Hove Pride is the UK’s biggest Pride festival and last year more than 400,000 people attended the event.

The “Trainbow” will be one of the trains running as part of an enhanced service promised by GTR during the Pride weekend from August 2-4.

The train operator has been planning for the event since January and says it will “add and lengthen services to bolster capacity throughout the weekend, particularly after the main Pride in the Park event finishes on Saturday evening when additional services will run late into the night”.

These measures have been taken to avoid a repeat of last year’s events. Thousands of travellers who came to the city to watch Britney Spears’ headline set were left stranded because of “insufficient train services”.

Paul Kemp, managing director of Brighton and Hove Pride 2019, said: “We’re thrilled by the new train design, in support of GTR’s LGBT+ colleagues for Brighton & Hove Pride and hope that visitors to the city enjoy travelling to Pride by it.

“The creative is a great visual reminder of the importance of Pride and LGBT+ and allies standing together to celebrate and defend the progress that has been made by the LGBT+ community.

“It also symbolises our positive working partnership with GTR in making sure travellers can get to and from the city over Pride weekend.”