Staycation Express confirms 2021 timings

RAIL CHARTER Services has released details of its planned service for the 2021 ‘Staycation Express’, which it intends to introduce this year from July 17 to September 9, after they were validated by Network Rail. For this year the train will be formed by a 2+5 HST (see RI May, p8). Between August 14 and 19 the HST will need to undergo an exam and so for that week the service will be provided by locos and coaches instead, minus a restaurant vehicle.

On all dates the train will run from Monday to Thursday and at weekends. Meanwhile, Network Rail confirmed on April 9 that repairs to the Ribblehead Viaduct had been completed, meaning it is ready in time to carry the Staycation Express and other trains this summer. The specialist repairs had been underway since November 2020 on the bridge’s 24 arches and involved the masonry, drainage and paintwork at a cost of £2m.