Since the 19th century, members of Britain’s royal family have used a private train to travel the country, going to official engagements, visiting their palaces and even setting off on honeymoon in the comfort of their own specially decorated rail cars.
But Buckingham Palace said this week that the royal train had reached the end of the line and was being discontinued in a round of cost-cutting.
The decision may help the royal finances, but it means the loss of a symbol of the British monarchy that links King Charles III with Queen Victoria, his great-great-great grandmother.
Victoria, persuaded by her husband, Prince Albert, became the first British monarch to make a journey by train, in June 1842. Her reluctance perhaps stemmed from a suspicion at the time that travelling at the speed of trains would cause insanity.
Yet she offered a positive verdict in her journal, writing, “The motion was very slight and much easier than a carriage also no dust or great heat — in fact it was delightful and so quick.”
Above, a lithograph of Edouard Pingret’s painting “Retour du Roi a la Station de Gosport” (“The King’s Return to Gosport Station”), depicting Victoria and Albert being met by dignitaries at Gosport Station in southern England.
In 1869, Victoria commissioned a collection of private rail cars for a royal train, including some that were decorated in 23-karat gold and blue silk. They were in service until the early 1900s. She declined to eat onboard, however, believing the practice to be bad for the digestion.
The royal train was used extensively during World War II, including by King George VI. Given the dangers of war and German bombing raids, the cars were made bulletproof, and the train had a 56-ton armour-plated roof.
Information about the train’s journeys was tightly guarded. Even the train’s staff was not told which royals would be travelling with them.
The royal train has also been part of King Charles’s life. He was photographed riding it as a young boy, and he used it in 1981 to depart for his honeymoon with Diana, Princess of Wales.
The current royal train came into service for Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. One of two locomotives pulls this train, both of which use biofuel made from vegetable oil waste: the 67006 Royal Sovereign or the 67005 Queen’s Messenger. The train includes sitting rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, a dining car and a kitchen, but the interiors are far more subdued and less lavish than those of the Victorian era.
Although comfortable, the royal train is neither cheap to operate nor particularly fast. It typically travels at about 112 km per hour, and using it is several times more expensive than going by air. When Charles III traveled from London to Cwmbran, Wales, in 2017, it cost about £130 (around ₹15,129) per mile. A standard rail ticket would have cost about £1.30 per mile.
Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge used the train to visit communities and thank them for their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite being a symbol of Britain’s monarchy, the royal train was used only twice in the last year. Yet those two journeys cost nearly £80,000 (₹93,13,480). Maintenance is pricey, too, and with the monarchy now getting two new helicopters, Charles has concluded that the royal train is no longer sustainable.