London North Eastern Railway celebrates centenary of East Coast route

Roger Smith - Contributor 9 comments 3 Min Read
Flying Scotsman and LNER Azuma at Darlington
Credit: RailAdvent

New Year’s Day, 1st January 2023, marks 100 years since the London and Northeastern Railway was formed as a result of the grouping following the Railway Act of 1921.

For the last 100 years, the two railway companies have connected London with the far-reaching corners of Scotland, and have become renowned globally for providing passengers with high-speed rail services in style and comfort, and with beautiful destinations.

You Always Dine Well on the Lner
Period London and Northeastern Railway poster. // Credit: London Northeastern Railway
To mark the occasion, the London and Northeastern Railway’s successor plans to hold a year full of celebrations to recognise the achievements of the past and the potential for the future, one of which is a special commemorative video to mark the centenary of the East Coast route operators.

The video contains archived and modern footage featuring the last century of the East Coast route and lasts two minutes and eight seconds. It celebrates the rich history of London Northeastern Railway’s colleagues, fleet, destinations, and locations and includes video from sources that include British Pathe.

Among the clips in the video are some of the most iconic moments from British railway history, including the record-breaking run in 1938 of A4 Pacific Mallard, which set a World record for the fastest speed by a steam-hauled train, and the inaugural service in 2019 of London Northeastern Railway’s new Azuma Class 800 fleet in 2019.

London Northeastern Railway will make regular announcements on social media channels throughout 2023 about other events to mark the centenary, some of which will specially interest railway fans.

London Northeastern Railway’s launch of its new Azuma trains. // Credit: London Northeastern Railway
The company has also produced an official calendar featuring some memorable moments from the East Coast route. Each of the 12 months is illustrated with an image from modern London Northeastern Railway photography or by an archived image from the National Railway Museum in York. A limited number of the calendars are available to purchase from London Northeastern Railway’s online Shop at lnermerchandise.co.uk

David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “This is a momentous occasion for LNER and we’re proud to be part of the modern LNER story.

“We recognise the importance of the railway in every community we serve, along with the role we have played in connecting these destinations of England and Scotland over the past 100 years.

“From speed records to sustainable fleets, the evolution of the railway is hugely exciting, and this video captures just a handful of those incredibly exciting moments. We’re looking forward to spending 2023 reflecting on our proud past and looking to our future.”

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9 Comments
  • God knows what Sir Nigel Gresley would have thought about the current situation our railways are in. Congratually videos are all very fine but it is the current issues that railway management should be concerning themselves with.

  • Great Video, now keep it going with as promised special promotions along the complete route. Not only at the large stations but the smaller stations as well. Please may we meet the Directors and Senior staff at these events

  • Which to me looks more similar to the japanese bullet train than anything that was british designed and will probably end up being withdrawn within the the next 25 years compared to our much older locomotives one in perticular for mainline mixed traffic is the Class 37 dating back to the early 60s which does get withdrawn then ends up coming back into service.

  • Great Video. Could and should have contained more. Lets see how the DIRECTORS, THE OFTEN NEVER SEEN SENIOR MANAGERS and others come out of the Ivory Tower to meet the customers. Not only at Major City Stations, but the smaller stations.
    Looks good sounds good hope it happens.

    • David Horne has I think continued his 1 day per month working a front line job that he did with EMTrains. Much in the mould of other connected managers like John Cameron, Steve Montgomery, Cyril Bleasdale & others who would often be travelling standard class and happy to have a short chat with other passengers (or as JC – with a driver’s ticket, go in the cab & share the driving (& get the real story from the coal face))

  • Excellent video, I believe it could and should have had much much more content, but that take lots of research, time and cost. I only hope that Directors, Senior Managers and other staff will visit to meet the customers not only at the Major City Stations , but the likes of Huntingdon, Peterborough, Retford and the many other small “wayside stations”. I also note that it is proposed to have special occasion days, I sincerely hope that this is applied as above.
    Mr Horne you are a brilliant people person as I know very well, please carry on in the same way, BUT, please could you get the rest of the team to do the same..
    Perhaps local press, radio announcements could be used to say whom and when somebody would be at that station.
    I wish all the best and hope it goes well.

    RICHARD

  • Excellent Video, Personally I believe it could have included much much more. But with the best will in the world how long would that take and how long.
    I sincerely hope Senior Management and Directors are seen more often talking to the customers, not only on the trains, stations other than the large city stations but the likes of Huntingdon, Peterborough, Retford, and other “wayside stations” to many to mention.
    You also mention other displays during 2023 the same apply’s as previous comment.
    Mr Horne you are a people person as I know very well , please carry on in the same way also at the “wayside” stations.
    All the best

    Richard

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