With the coronation of King Charles III fast coming, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will launch a newly named service to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 6th May 2023.
And it will be operated by an Azuma of some sort – Image, LNER.
From 6th May, the daily 11:00 service between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley will be called the ‘Carolean Express’, with the inaugural service departing at 11:00 on the day of the King’s Coronation.
The era of British history under King Charles III will be known as the Carolean era, the same name that was given to the eras of both King Charles I and II.
The ‘Carolean Express’ will join formal service names such as ‘Highland Chieftain’ and ‘Northern Lights’ which are daily services on the LNER route, operating between London and Inverness and London and Aberdeen.
The weekday ‘Flying Scotsman’ service operates in the opposite direction, taking customers to London King’s Cross from Edinburgh Waverley at 05:40, stopping only at Newcastle. The ‘Carolean Express’ operates Monday-Sunday calling at York, Darlington, Newcastle, Berwick Upon Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley.
LNER and British Rail in the past have has named trains and services to mark important royal occasions including ‘Coronation’, ‘The Elizabethan’, ‘Silver Jubilee’ and ‘Queen of Scots’.
In Quotes
David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said:
“We’re delighted to be continuing the tradition of royal recognition through our fleet of Azuma trains and services with the introduction of the ‘Carolean Express’. We know that our customers like to hear about our named services and fleet and we’re sure this new addition will prove popular.
In our 100-year history we’ve had services to celebrate important occasions in royal history and we are proud to mark the reign of King Charles III.”
Pushing the 100-year history bit a little…
Time for a point of order, because LNER isn’t getting away with this.
LNER was a grouping in 1923 when the big four groupings were made (forming London Midlands and Scottish Railway, Southern, Great Western Railway and LNER).
This lasted until 1947, when LNER was taken from privatisation to public ownership, under British Rail.
In the age of modern privatisation, the East Coast Main Line has been operated by Sea Containers (operating a GNER), National Express East Coast, East Coast (Operated by an Operator of Last Resort), Virgin Trains East Coast and finally the current LNER (again, operated by an Operator of Last Resort).
The modern LNER came into operation on 24 June 2018, taking over the Intercity East Coast Franchise – making this incarnation of LNER just under five years old.
Services during the Coronation Weekend
LNER will be operating its full timetable over the Coronation Bank Holiday, with services expected to be busy as people head south to London for the celebrations, and north when they finish,
If you’re planning to travel on LNER services between the 5th and 8th of May 2023, you are advised to plan ahead, book in advance and reserve a seat.
Unless you enjoy standing for four hours on a train to Scotland…
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