Queen Elizabeth II leaves Liverpool Street Station in London for Sandringham in Norfolk with her son Prince Edward (centre), niece Sarah Armstrong-Jones (left) and nephew David Armstrong-Jones (right) on the Royal train in December 1968. Photo / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II leaves Liverpool Street Station in London for Sandringham in Norfolk with her son Prince Edward (centre), niece Sarah Armstrong-Jones (left) and nephew David Armstrong-Jones (right) on the Royal train in December 1968. Photo / Getty Images
The King is to bid the “fondest of farewells” to the royal train beloved by his late mother.
The nine-carriage train, described as a “part of national life for many decades”, will be decommissioned in 2027.
The King and his family will continue to travel within the UK on commercialtrains, in cars, and in two newly leased helicopters which use sustainable fuel.
Queen Elizabeth II loved the royal train but it has had only infrequent use for the past few years.
The carriages will have a final outing around Britain before going on display in a museum.
Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of Sussex arriving by royal train in Runcorn in 2018. Photo / Getty Images
“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,” said James Chalmers, Keeper of the Privy Purse.
The annual accounts for the Sovereign Grant, which funds the monarchy, show the King used the train to travel to the Bentley headquarters in Crewe in May 2024.
He did not use it again until he went to the Midlands in February this year for engagements at JCB in Rocester, Staffs, and at a brewery in Burton upon Trent.
In February, the monarch is understood to have stayed on board overnight, having conducted various Duchy of Lancaster meetings in the area.
Chalmers described the move to decommission the train as an example of the Royal household applying “fiscal discipline” in its drive to deliver “value for money”.
The Sovereign Grant accounts show that royal travel increased by £500,000 ($1.126m) on the previous year, to £4.7 million ($10.59m) , as the King returned to work after his early cancer treatment.
The King is said to have “fond memories” of the Royal train, which includes a carriage created for him in the mid-1980s, but ultimately made the decision to scrap it. The Prince of Wales is aware of the decision and supports it.
The annual accounts state the decision to finally decommission the Royal train was taken in consideration of the cost of storage and maintenance “versus its level of usage”, and the investment needed to keep it fit for use beyond the end of its current contract in March 2027.
The train is particularly associated with the late Queen and Prince Philip, who liked to use it for overnight visits around the country, for security reasons. There was deep resistance to scrapping the train while Queen Elizabeth was alive.
In 2020, William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the time, made a 1250-mile train journey over three days to thank key workers and communities for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first version of the Royal train was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1869. Edward VII ordered an entirely new version in 1902 to be “as much like the Royal yacht as possible”.
George V installed a bath, the first on any train in the world, during the Second World War and began the tradition of sleeping on board rather than asking to be put up by hosts during wartime.
The royal train carries Queen Victoria from Balmoral to Windsor, the last journey she made by train before her death in 1901. Photo / Getty Images
In 1977, British Rail built new carriages to mark Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. Further carriages were added in 1986, the most recent addition to the train.
Chalmers 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”.
It is now likely to go on a final tour of Britain with the Royal family, before a permanent home can be found for tourists to visit it.
Chalmers said: “Before it finally goes out of service, it is our hope that the train will make further visits to parts of the UK, while discussions will begin on finding a long-term home where some particularly historic elements might go on public display”.
The late Queen Elizabeth’s royal train arriving in Cheshire in 2018. Photo / Getty Images
The annual accounts state the decision to finally decommission the Royal train was taken in consideration of the cost of storage and maintenance “versus its level of usage”, and the investment needed to keep it fit for use beyond the end of its current contract in March 2027.
The new helicopters will use the maximum industry standard of 50% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (“SAF”).
The Sovereign Grant report records the “electrification of the vehicle fleet where possible”, although this is currently limited to cars used privately, with no date yet announced for the state fleet to turn fully electric.
