Hopes of luxury train coming through Milton Keynes derailed by Covid

The Northern Belle should have travelled through the city tomorrow (Wednesday) ready for a £289-a-head champagne Christmas Lunch trip from London to Salisbury on Thursday.

But the Government’s decision to put the capital into Tier Three lockdown from means that the train, which would have carried 200 passengers, has had to be cancelled.

A spokesman said: “We know people will be disappointed that the train has been cancelled at such short notice.

“But with London in Tier Three we had no choice. The safety of passengers, our staff and local community is paramount.”

The Northern Belle, which used to be part of the iconic Orient Express group, should have been pulled by 75-year-old Lancashire Fusilier, one of the last steam locomotives to operate on British Railways before the switch to diesel and electric power.

For many years the Black 5 engine was based at Kettering railway depot and would pull passenger trains on the main line through Bedford between London and Sheffield.

The Northern Belle’s distinctive 1930s-style Pullman carriages, painted umber and cream, are luxuriously fitted out with comfortable armchairs, tapestries, murals and mosaic floors.

One of them used to form part of the Queen’s Royal Train.

It operates from stations all over Britain and next July will be calling at Northampton for a slap-up “Great British Sunday Lunch” trip.

Passengers will tuck into a seven-course meal with wine. But at £255 a head, it doesn’t come cheap.

For more details, visit www.northernbelle.co.uk.