London North Eastern Railway named train celebrates King’s Coronation

Continuing the tradition of naming trains after the coronations of our monarchs, on Saturday, 6th May London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is launching a new named service to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.

London North Eastern Railway's predecessor the London North Eastern Railway inaugurated ‘The Silver Jubilee' in 1935, the year of King George V's Silver Jubile.

The ‘Coronation' was inaugurated on 5th July 1937 between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley to mark the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

‘The Elizabethan' was inaugurated in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

From 6th May, the service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley that departs daily at 11.00 will be called the ‘Carolean Express', with the inaugural service departing from King's Cross at 11:00 on the day of the King's Coronation.

A sample of the onboard announcement has been released by LNER and can be played below

The name was chosen as the forthcoming 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.

Another service with a name with a royal connection was the ‘Queen of Scots' which ran from King's Cross to Glasgow.

The ‘Carolean Express' will call at York, Darlington, Newcastle, Berwick-on-Tweed, and Edinburgh Waverley. Other popular daily services on the London to Scotland route with formal service names are the ‘Highland Chieftain' and ‘Northern Lights', which operate between London and Inverness and London and Aberdeen.

In the opposite direction, the weekday ‘Flying Scotsman' service departs from Edinburgh Waverley at 05:40 to London King's Cross and only stops at Newcastle.

London North Eastern Railway will be operating its full timetable over the Coronation Bank Holiday, but services are expected to be popular as people head to London for the weekend's celebrations. Anyone intending to travel should plan ahead, book in advance and reserve a seat when travelling by train between the 5th and 8th of May.

Throughout the bank holiday weekend, customers travelling in First Class on London North Eastern Railway services can enjoy a complimentary menu with locally sourced food that includes a limited number of special commemorative chocolate coins produced especially for the occasion. Customers in Standard can order a range of food and drinks directly to their seats using the at-seat service.

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.”