Mercia Charters calls it a day…

The tour operator, well known for its European railtours, has ended its operations.

FORMED in 1997 by a band of Coventry enthusiasts, and specialising in European railtours since 1999,

Mercia Charters has closed down its operations. Notice was given to Companies House ‘Application to

Strike Off’ on January 17 by director Alan Baylis.

This successful tour operator ran no less than 64 trips in its eventful life and had an excellent reputation. Its European tours were often advertised as using former BR locomotives, including examples of Class 58 in the Netherlands and Classes 56 and 86 in Hungary.

The company has been dormant since 2017, during which year it announced it was suspending European tours for the immediate future, blaming the large drop of the Pound Sterling against the Euro, together with the uncertain nature of currency fluctuation (not helped with the UK leaving the

EU), making ticket pricing difficult for Mercia to ensure costs were covered by income. It wanted to run tours at affordable prices and felt this was not possible at that time.

Many UK railtourers will have fond memories of Mercia Charters, being one of the few tour operators which ran regular trips across the Channel. Its final tour was in 2013 and although it was planning another Hungarian visit, this never materialised.