A NEW home has been found for a model of a railway carriage.

Last month, owner Trans-pennine Express tried to tempt collectors by offering the 23-metre replica on the Internet auction site eBay, but failed to find any takers.

Now it has been bought by Marl International, a company that makes electronic lighting systems.

The company plans to transport it across the Pennines to Ulverston, in Cumbria, where it will be used for tests and demonstrations.

The replica was built to show the public what a new fleet of 100mph trains would be like when they start running in 2006.

It has been on show in the National Railway Museum, in York, for six months, during which time it has been seen by more than 350,000 people.

Marl International managing director Adrian Rawlinson said: "This is a unique opportunity to create a test and demonstration facility that will not only be very useful for our design teams, but will continue to be available to the rail industry in the greater interests of safety by creating innovative lighting systems."

The carriage was built in Germany and made to look and feel like a real train. It is full-size, has a driver's cab, reclining first-class seats, carpeting and interior lighting.

Marl International will re-configure the lighting in the model so that a comparison can be made between traditional light sources and its new LED technologies.

A spokesman for Transpennine Express said: "The model proved an ideal way for us to show tens of thousands of people the quality of trains we will be introducing in two years' time in a £250m investment."