Luxury seaside trip remains on track despite rail strikes
A “ZOMBIE” is beating all the odds to rescue a luxurious train journey from Birmingham to York and Scarborough tomorrow (Friday) during the national rail strikes.
With hundreds of services across Britain cancelled, Northern Belle bosses feared they would also have to shunt their 1930s-style Pullman train into the sidings.
But Network Rail route planners have managed to find a way to get the Pullman train from the Midlands to the east coast seaside resort.
And a vintage Class 57 diesel engine – a type of locomotive dubbed “Zombies” by British Rail drivers when they operated on mainline services last century – has been earmarked to pull it.
Although the rail strikes are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday, there are also very few trains expected to be running on Friday.
Northern Belle owner David Pitts said: “We feared we would have to cancel because all the logistics were against us. But Network Rail has pulled out all the stops to find a way through for our train.
“Between us we have beaten all the odds to keep Friday’s train running and I’d like to say a big thank you to Network Rail for making it happen.
“Even better, we are hoping that a Class 57 loco, appropriately named Scarborough Castle, will be pulling it.”
However, a special steam-hauled journey scheduled for Saturday from Birmingham and Coventry over the spectacular Settle-Carlisle line through the Yorkshire Dales has had to be cancelled because of the strike. It has been rescheduled for November 10.
This trip featured on Channel 5’s The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys programme last year when actor Bill Nighy described the Northern Belle as “the Grand Duchess of luxury train travel”.
Mr Pitts said: “We know people will be disappointed that we have had to cancel, but unfortunately the strike made it impossible.
“However, we still have a very few tickets left for this Friday’s train if anybody wishes to rebook on that.”
For more details, phone 01270 899681 or click on www.northernbelle.co.uk.