last updated: Friday 25 September 2009, 09:18am

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Thomas the Tank Engine steams into computer era

Thomas the Tank Engine is back after a hi-tech makeover.

Fans need not worry about him being electrified or converted for biofuels - but the little blue engine is back as a computer-generated character.

The revamped version will also feature the cheeky locomotive speaking in a new feature-length cartoon.

For many years the TV version featured actual models of engines on a model railway set, and the programmes were narrated by Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis.

In new adventure 'Hero Of The Rail's, a 60-minute CGI cartoon, he and his friends will each have their own voices and the film will also introduce viewers to new, racially diverse characters including Japanese engine Hiro and Hispanic locomotive Victor.

Thomas the Tank Engine was created in the 1940s by children's author Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry for his best-selling Railway Series.

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