LADIES and gentlemen, the next train arriving at platform one will be - part of a ground-breaking operatic show set to thrill the region.

It is not an announcement weary rail passengers will have ever heard, but one that is coming to a station near you.

Darlington's Railway Museum is playing host to the first opera to be staged on a station platform - and a train hurtling along the main line during the show will have a key role.

A character in the drama is to step off the train at the station - along with unsuspecting passengers planning to disembark there - and walk straight into a show being watched by hundreds of people.

The opera, set in a real-life railway scene, is being produced by Northern Stage and Tees Valley Creative Partnerships, and will be performed by 100 youngsters.

Creative Partnerships director Carol Alevroyianni said: "There is a part where a character will step off the train and straight into the performance."

But with the reliability and punctuality of the nation's trains something of a contentious point, organisers are taking no chances.

She said: "There is a repeat chorus in the piece so that would allow us a few minutes if things were running a bit late.

"It's the first time there has been a performance on a railway platform. Rolling stock will be like the wings of the performance area.

"The audience will be looking at a stage that includes two or three railway tracks and there will be special effects, including fire."

Schools taking part are Haughton Community School, in Darlington; Bishopsgarth School, Stockton; West Redcar; English Martyrs School, Hartlepool, and Hall Garth School, Acklam, Middlesbrough.

Teesside opera star and soprano Suzannah Clarke has played an integral part in organising the event.

Performances will be staged in the final week of July.