The contract to run the Royal Train will not be renewed when it comes to an end in March 2027, as part of wider efforts to reduce costs at the Royal Household which are being encouraged by the King. The special journeys made on the set of up to nine coaches will be replaced by two helicopters, although the royal family will continue to travel by service trains, according to Buckingham Palace. James Chalmers, keeper of the privy purse, said: ‘The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved. But in moving forward we must not be bound by the past. ‘Just as so many parts of the royal household’s work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells as we seek to be disciplined and forward in our allocation of funding.’ The rolling stock was last modernised in the 1980s, and was traditionally maintained at Wolverton Works in Buckinghamshire. Queen Elizabeth II was very fond of the train, but she also used ordinary trains from time to time, such as when she travelled with Prince Philip on a Thameslink train from London to open Luton Airport Parkway in 1999. She also used Great Northern services from London King’s Cross to travel to King’s Lynn on her way to Sandringham. On such journeys a modest area of first class was cordoned off for her, and she was accompanied by her usual security staff. The present King and other members of the royal family are expected to continue using service trains when it is convenient for them to do so. The tradition of special royal carriages started in the early days of railways. Queen Victoria’s future husband Prince Albert travelled with his brother on the Great Western Railway from Slough to Paddington in November 1839 in a special ‘posting carriage’ furnished with sofas, and was said to have found the experience ‘convenient and agreeable’. The GWR, hoping that the Queen would be persuaded, built the first Royal Carriage in 1840. The Queen used it for the first time on 11 June 1842, again between Slough and London, and was impressed, although she opposed ‘excessive’ speeds of more than 40mph (64km/h). Other large railway companies soon provided royal saloons, but the first complete royal trains were built for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 by the Great Western Railway and the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. The future of the last Royal Train after 2027 is not clear, although it may be opened on display to the public. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews.

The Department for Transport appears to have hardened its stance over more open access, partly on the grounds that these services could siphon off unacceptable amounts of revenue from operators controlled by Great British Railways. A letter to the Office of Rail and Road from the DfT’s director-general for rail reform and strategy Richard Goodman, dated 20 June, also highlights the possibility of a conflict of interest between the National Rail Contracts still possessed by transport groups and their open access operations. He says such a possibility is ‘a risk which only increases as contracts approach their end and attentions shift towards new Open Access applications’. At the moment, FirstGroup still runs the contract for Great Western Railway and has the majority share in Avanti West Coast, but also operates open access services branded Lumo between London and Edinburgh, while Arriva owns Grand Central but still has the contracts to operate CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways. First has acquired two more open access contracts which will provide trains between London and South Wales, and London and Stirling, both of which will share at least part of their routes with GWR and AWC. However, First also has ambitions to run more open access services, including extending Lumo to Glasgow and also running new routes from London to Rochdale, Paignton and Hereford. Arriva, meanwhile, is promoting a new route between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Brighton, while Alstom wants to revive direct services between London and Wrexham and Virgin wants to return to the West Coast Main Line by providing up to 35 departures a day from London Euston. Mr Goodman says: ‘DfT analysis suggests that the sum of annual abstraction of each of the currently live Open Access application would be up to £229 million (2024/25 prices), not accounting for the revenue impacts resulting from those services interacting.’ The Hereford proposal has also caused concern at Network Rail, which is worried about the presence of level crossings on the route and limited capacity nearer London. It is not the first time that the DfT has turned a cold shoulder on more open access.  Transport secretary Heidi Alexander warned on 6 January this year that ‘We need to be mindful of the impacts of Open Access such as the level of revenue they can abstract from contracted services and the associated implications for passengers and taxpayers.’ Almost a month later her department declined to support any new applications, apart from London to Wrexham, in a letter to the ORR dated 4 February. This said: ‘The Department welcomes the benefits that Open Access services can provide, including improved connectivity and choice for passengers, but, as the Secretary of State set out in her letter of 6 January 2025, we are clear that these benefits must outweigh costs to taxpayers and operational impacts.’ The managing director of FirstGroup’s rail division Steve Montgomery has expressed concern about the DfT’s approach, according to the Financial Times, which said that ‘the ORR was about to make final decisions on the applications for open-access operator licences before it’. Mr Goodman said in his letter that the Office of Rail and Road is likely to make decisions about at least some of the current applications at board meetings in the near future. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

No trains are running on the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and England, because the line has been blocked. Transpennine Express says the track is blocked by a fallen tree near Beattock Summit, north of Lockerbie, and overhead wires have been damaged. Avanti West Coast trains from London Euston are being terminated at Preston or Carlisle, and some services have been cancelled. TransPennine Express is ‘strongly advising passengers not to travel north of Carlisle’, because there are no trains running between Carlisle and Glasgow Central or Edinburgh in either direction and no replacement buses. Meanwhile, East Coast Main Line trains have been disrupted between Northallerton and Thirsk, because the emergency services are dealing with an incident involving a trespasser near Northallerton, who is reported by LNER to have been hit by a train. LNER said: ‘Trains are running, but there is major disruption, and you may be delayed.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews.  Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Passengers on the Brighton Main Line may face cancellations and delays today and tomorrow, because of the high temperatures. The maximum in Croydon is forecast to be 31C today and slightly hotter tomorrow, and inland towns in West Sussex are likely to be almost as warm. Network Rail has imposed speed restrictions because the internal temperature of the rails could be 20C hotter than the air. Rails in Britain are pre-stressed to a rail temperature of 27C, which usually works well in our climate, but the force of trains weighing several hundred tonnes is made more extreme when temperatures are very high. One way of reducing that force is to run at lower speeds. Network Rail said: ‘With temperatures set to soar as forecast by the Met Office, speed restrictions have to be imposed across large parts of the network to ensure everyone’s safety. ‘We’re sorry but this means we won’t be able to run as many trains as normal and journeys will take longer. Trains that are running will also be much busier. If you are able to work from home then that may be your best option.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The Railway 200 Exhibition train ‘Inspiration’ is welcoming the first members of the public at Bridgnorth station in Shropshire today. The train was at London Paddington for a formal launch yesterday, where rail minister Lord Hendy marked the start of a national tour which will take the train to 60 places in Britain as part of the Railway 200 national festival celebrating 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway hauled the first trainload of passengers behind a steam locomotive in September 1825. Lord Hendy said: ‘I’m proud to be celebrating our heritage as the birthplace of the modern railway; to this day our railway network is the backbone of our economy, driving economic growth, jobs and homes. ‘With this train, we’re not just looking to the past, we are inspiring the diverse next generation of engineers, drivers, conductors and technicians, and shining a light on what the railway is delivering today and what it can do in future, alongside bringing services back into public ownership, laying the foundations for Great British Railways, and building a railway we can all be proud of.’ ‘Inspiration’ has four coaches which commemorate the railway’s achievements past and present and also invite visitors to consider a career in the modern industry. So far 27 visits have been announced from now until Christmas. Some of them are to heritage railways and museums, while others are at stations, including several of the London termini. The train’s visit to the Severn Valley Railway will last until 6 July, and it will then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where it will open on 8 July for three days. Entry to the train is free, but visits need to be booked in advance. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Updated 10.30The Railway 200 exhibition train 'Inspiration' is opening its doors to invited guests from the media today, after leaving Derby yesterday afternoon. Railnews has published the first pictures of the exterior of the train, which were taken shortly before it left Derby. It stopped overnight at Toton, and is now at Platform 1 of London Paddington for the media event. NEW  Images of the train at Paddington this morning are here. Members of the public are not being invited on board today, but tomorrow Inspiration will welcome its first booked guests at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway. It will remain at Bridgnorth until 6 July, and then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where visits can be booked for dates between 8 and 10 July. Although the first part of its tour has been announced, most of the stations named so far are in Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and East Anglia. Other dates covering Wales and the West of England are expected to follow. All visitors to Inspiration, which celebrates 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway first carried passengers on a locomotive-hauled train, must book in advance, although there is no charge for entry. However, the owners of some sites, such as heritage operators, may require their usual entry fees where these apply. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Updated 10.30The Railway 200 exhibition train 'Inspiration' is opening its doors to invited guests from the media today, after leaving Derby yesterday afternoon. Railnews has published the first pictures of the exterior of the train, which were taken shortly before it left Derby. It stopped overnight at Toton, and is now at Platform 1 of London Paddington for the media event. NEW  An image of the train at Paddington this morning is here. Members of the public are not being invited on board today, but tomorrow Inspiration will welcome its first booked guests at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway. It will remain at Bridgnorth until 6 July, and then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where visits can be booked for dates between 8 and 10 July. Although the first part of its tour has been announced, most of the stations named so far are in Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and East Anglia. Other dates covering Wales and the West of England are expected to follow. All visitors to Inspiration, which celebrates 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway first carried passengers on a locomotive-hauled train, must book in advance, although there is no charge for entry. However, the owners of some sites, such as heritage operators, may require their usual entry fees where these apply. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

EXCLUSIVE: The first pictures of the Railway 200 exhibition train are being published by Railnews today, ahead of a formal media launch in London tomorrow.The images show the four-coach train, named ‘Inspiration’, at Derby, where it has been undergoing final tests.It is due to leave for London later today, to go on display to invited guests at a major London terminus tomorrow.After that it will travel to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway and open to the public for the first time on Friday.The train will make a 12-month tour of the network, stopping at selected stations to welcome visitors.Entry to the train is free, but must be booked in advance. _______________________________________ To see today’s images, click here._______________________________________ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

EXCLUSIVE: The first pictures of the Railway 200 exhibition train are being published by Railnews today, ahead of a formal media launch in London tomorrow.The images show the four-coach train, named ‘Inspiration’, at Derby, where it has been undergoing final tests.It is due to leave for London later today, to go on display to invited guests at a major London terminus tomorrow.After that it will travel to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway and open to the public for the first time on Friday.The train will make a 12-month tour of the network, stopping at selected stations to welcome visitors.Entry to the train is free, but must be booked in advance. _______________________________________ To see today’s images, click here._______________________________________ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Eurostar services from London are badly disrupted again this morning after two trespassers on the high speed line in France lost their lives. The delays have been made worse by cable thieves near Lille, who apparently struck early yesterday. Eurostar is warning that ‘our trains are likely to be subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations. We advise you to cancel or postpone your trip.’ The 07.01 and 07.31 from London to Paris were being delayed by at least an hour this morning, and the 07.56 CEST from Brussels, which was due in London at 08.57 BST, is not now expected until at least 10.17. Some Eurostars operating on the former Thalys routes between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris are also affected.  The fatalities on LGV Nord occurred in two separate incidents. According to French reports, one was between Lille and Paris, and the other was between Lille and Arras. It is also being reported that the theft of 800m of copper cable from various locations between Lille and Douai in the small hours of Tuesday has affected Eurostar as well as French TGVs and other domestic services. Passengers have been complaining bitterly on social media, saying that they were left stranded at midnight at Paris Nord with nowhere to sleep after three trains to London were cancelled. Another earlier service to London was delayed by at least four hours. The worst delays in the history of Eurostar occurred a few days before Christmas 2009, when several trains failed inside the Channel Tunnel during the night of 18-19 December after fine snow in France had penetrated their motors. More than 2000 people were stranded on four trains for up to six hours. Heating and lighting were lost on some of the trains when emergency power supplies failed, and two lorry shuttle trains had to be used to rescue passengers from stalled Eurostars. The incident was followed by a major review of how Eurostar had dealt with the problems, and this report made 21 recommendations.  Readers’ comments Thank you for the information you have found and published about the Eurostar delays on 24 June and today, 25 June. The information coming from Eurostar (what little information there is) is conflicting and muddled. The app which they directed us to yesterday says trains are cancelled and that we can only get a refund through the service we used to book the journey; the Eurostar website keeps bouncing the travel update screen so that it shows only London to Paris, not the reverse. My revised booking, which I made on the app, is not showing on the website when I log in. There is no information about hotels, any refunds possible, any vouchers for hotels, etc. Given that it is Fashion Week in Paris I and several others have found ourselves in Versailles after a 1.5 hours-long journey last night from Gare du Nord – when we were released at around 20.00 hours and on our own to figure out what to do. The reason we are in Versailles is due to the cost of hotels in Paris – what few there started at 270 GBP per night, then quickly escalated to prices outside the bounds of affordability. I am (was) due back to London today, for a very important work gathering tonight but which I am now unable to make. I run my own business and do not have an assistant or anyone else to help me sort this out. It’s distressing, and rather disturbing. Eurostar and any other carrier should have a duty of care to their passengers, whom they have absolutely abandoned. I am now looking at alternative routes back to London – not sure what else to do or when Eurostar will be running again. Kelly Falconer, Twickenham Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.