Scotrail’s seasonal Santa Express trains raise thousands for charity
Scotrail operated a series of special Santa Express services during December to raise funds for the Railway Children charity.
The first of the services operated on December 4, taking hundreds of excited children and their parents on a Scotrail Inter7city HST from Edinburgh Waverley to the Strathspey Railway – the first HST to work a passenger service onto the preserved line.
The inaugural train was followed by four further charity Santa Express services, with two trains operating between Edinburgh Waverley and the Fife Circle line on December 11 and 18, with one train running in the morning and the second in the afternoon on both days.
Tickets for all five trains sold out within hours of going on sale in October. After the first train ran, with extra money raised from an on-board raffle, more than £37,000 had been raised for the charity, with further funds expected from the operation of the trains on the two later dates.
Commenting after the first service had been successfully operated on December 4, David Simpson, Scotrail’s operations director, said: “We thought the Santa Express would be a success, but Saturday’s trip to Boat of Garten has exceeded all our expectations. Everyone played their part, and I’d like to thank all the
Scotrail staff who volunteered their time and everyone else, especially Strathspey Railway and the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre.
“And, of course, a massive thankyou to Santa, who took time out of his busy schedule to come from the North Pole and give out presents to all the children on board.”