York Theatre Royal’s stage production of E Nesbit’s 1906 novel The Railway Children is to be staged in the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station this summer.

A specially created auditorium will be constructed around the disused tracks - which until 2007 served as London's main Eurostar terminal - with the audience seated on both sides of the track and the action taking place on the platforms and the track itself.

E Nesbit's story follows Bobby, Peter and Phyllis, three children whose lives change dramatically when their father is mysteriously taken away. Moving with their mother from London to a cottage in rural Yorkshire, they befriend the local railway porter and embark on a journey of discovery, friendship and adventure. But the mystery remains; where is their father and is he ever coming back?

The Railway Children is being staged to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the popular film adaptation and uses the saloon carriage that featured in the film along with a period steam train from the National Railway Museum in York.