British Royal Train

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Class 67 67005 Queen's Messenger brings up the rear of the Royal Train as it heads along the Dawlish sea front on 15 September 2004. 67002 Special Delivery is heading the train.

The Royal Train is the name given to the set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the British Monarch, other members of the Royal Family, and their staff.

[edit] History

Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by train, on 13 June 1842, when she travelled on the Great Western Railway (GWR), which ran the line between London and Windsor (for the Castle).^[1] By the end of the century, each of the major railway companies operating in the British Isles had their own carriage(s) dedicated for use by the Royal Family or other dignitaries.^[2] After her funeral, Queen Victoria's casket was taken to London Paddington station and transported on the Royal Train.^[3]

In 1948, upon the formation of British Railways, the individual regions continued to maintain their own Royal Train carriages. A single "Royal Train" was formed in 1977 as a response to the demands of the Silver Jubilee. This train has been maintained since privatisation of the UK's railways, although the Royal Family have travelled on ordinary service trains more frequently in recent years to minimize costs.^[4]

The train currently consists of nine carriages, seven of these being of the British Rail Mark 3 design, including two which were originally built for use with the HST prototype. Not all of these will be used to form a train, as different vehicles have specified purposes. Two locomotives are designated for use on the train and painted in the claret livery of the royal household, but are used for other traffic when not hauling the royal train. The carriages may be used for other Heads of State, but they cannot be hired by private users. When not in use, the train is stored in Wolverton, where it is maintained by an Alstom subsidiary.^[4]

Train drivers are specially selected based on their skills, including the ability to make a station stop within six inches of the designated position.^[4]

[edit] Locomotives nominated for the Royal Train

Class 67, no. 67006 "Royal Sovereign" at Evesham on 26 March 2005 hauling the Venice-Simplon Orient Express Northern Belle train. This is one of the two locomotives painted in Royal Claret livery for hauling the Royal Train.

Former Royal locomotive 47798 Prince William at the Rail200 railfest at the National Railway Museum 1 June 2004.

Although railways often had nominated locomotives for hauling the Royal Train (with special high maintenance regimes), no locomotive had ever been dedicated solely to the train until the 1980s when two Class 47 locomotives were painted in the claret livery of the Royal Household. During the 1990s these were dedicated solely to Royal Train duty until they were replaced in 2003 by two Class 67 locomotives, both owned by EWS. The new locomotives are often used for special charter train services, as well as other occasional passenger services when not required. Occasionally the Royal Train is attached to other engines.

Locomotives nominated for working the Royal Train over the years have included:

• 1990-2004: Class 47 locomotives 47834 Fire Fly and 47835 Windsor Castle (painted in InterCity livery) and later refurbished, renumbered and renamed as 47798 Prince William and 47799 Prince Henry (painted Royal claret). Both are now withdrawn and the former is preserved at the National Railway Museum, York.
• Since 2004: Class 67 locomotives 67005 Queen's Messenger and 67006 Royal Sovereign (painted Royal claret).

[edit] Steam locomotives

In the post preservation-era, the Royal Train has only been hauled by three steam locomotives,^[5] 6233 Duchess of Sutherland (an LMS Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 locomotive), 6024 King Edward I (a GWR 6000 'King' Class 4-6-0 locomotive),^[6] and 60163 Tornado (New build LNER Peppercorn A1 4-6-2).^[7]

On 11 June 2002, the restored 6233 Duchess of Sutherland was the first steam locomotive to haul the Royal Train for 35 years,^[8] transporting Queen Elizabeth II on a tour to North Wales, from Holyhead to Llandudno Junction, as part of her Golden Jubilee. The trip also marked the 160th anniversary of the first Royal train in 1842.^[9]

On 22 March 2005 Duchess of Sutherland again hauled the Royal Train, the second time for a steam locomotive in 40 years, transporting The Prince of Wales from Settle to Carlisle over the Settle-Carlisle Railway.^[10] The trip marked the 25th anniversary of the formation of the 'Friends of the Settle and Carlisle' pressure group. On the trip, the Prince spent a 15 minute spell behind the controls of the locomotive.^[11]

On 10 June 2008, 6024 King Edward I hauled the Royal Train, with Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on board, from Kidderminster Town to Bridgnorth, on a visit to the Severn Valley Railway.^[12] Once again Prince Charles took the controls of the locomotive for a period.^[13]

On 19 February 2009 the Royal Train was hauled by the first standard gauge steam locomotive to be built in Britain in over 50 years, 60163 Tornado, an LNER Peppercorn Class A1 4-6-2, with Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall onboard, Prince Charles travelling in the cab.^[14]

[edit] Royal Train Carriages

[edit] Historic Carriages

The table below lists Royal Train carriages in chronological order through to 1977. Where a separate date is shown for building, the vehicle was converted rather than built new.

[edit] Fleet from 1977

In 1977, the Royal Train was considerably changed in order to update it for use during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee celebrations. A number of new carriages were added to the train, and old ones either refurbished or withdrawn. Since this time all Royal Train vehicles have been painted Royal Claret and numbered in a dedicated series commencing at 2900.

The new (1977) vehicles were of Mark 3 design, and were converted prototype Mark 3 carriages originally built for the development of the High Speed Train (HST) in the early 1970s. This new Mark 3 formation for the Royal Train has a higher maximum speed, depending on the locomotive, an important factor if slots are to be found for the train on crowded main lines.

The table below lists all the vehicles used in the fleet since 1977 in numerical order.

[edit] Royal Train use

Although the cost of this type of travel is expensive compared to scheduled flights, the train enables members of the Royal Family to carry out busy schedules over and extended period in a secure environment which minimises disruption and inconvenience to the public and provides accommodations and office facilities. On at least one occasion the Prince of Wales conducted a dinner meeting on board the train. Some members of parliament have argued that the royal train, like the royal yacht, is an expensive underutilized relic. However, the train is recognized as being a very secure way for the octogenarian queen to complete overnight trips. The Queen loves it, claiming it is one of the few places left on Earth where she can kick off her shoes, put up her feet and relax in total privacy. The cost of the royal train when it was introduced in 1977 for The Queen's Silver Jubilee was £1.9 million and has since been considerably reduced.^[15] Edward Leigh, the Conservative chairman of the House of Commons public accounts committee, said the royal train was twice as expensive as using air travel but hardly luxurious. He said, It's a rather Formica laminated affair. I don't think it's that grand or that comfortable. There is also much of the public that has a sentimental view of the train and would like to see it used for the Diamond Jubilee in February 2012 after its use for the Silver Jubilee and the Golden Jubilee.^{[citation needed]}

In FY2009 the royal train was used for 14 trips averaging 696 miles apiece(round trip). A total of 8 trips were by the Prince of Wales, and 6 trips were by The Queen and Prince Philip. A total of 19 nights were spent on the train during the course of the 14 trips. In order to control costs, Parliament only permits the royal train to be used by The Queen with Prince Philip or The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Gloucester.

[edit] See also

• Royal Train
• Air transport of the Royal Family and government of the United Kingdom
• Royal Yacht
• Official state car

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Royal Train

• About the British Royal Train from HM Website
• Inside the Queen's travelling bedroom mobile home (extensive photos)
• Royal Express is more Pizza than Orient , a description of the fixtures and fittings from The Scotsman, 2002
• Details of Royal Train diesel workings from 1968 to 1984

[edit] References