Train passengers set to dine in style
A CHAMPAGNE afternoon tea trip from Rochdale aboard Britain’s poshest train this month sold out within days – despite tickets costing up to a staggering £600 each!
It will be the only visit to the town this year by the 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle, which actor Bill Nighy once described on television as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel”.
Passengers will board over a red carpet laid across the platform at Rochdale station and be escorted to their seats before a uniformed steward pours their first glass of champagne.
But despite the high price of tickets, the train on Friday, April 19, won’t actually take them to another destination. Instead they will just drink, dine and relax during a leisurely six-hour journey meandering through the Northern countryside.
A spokesman explained: “What we will do, is transport our guests back to the golden days of rail travel. A time when nothing was too good for the pampered passenger, and the style in which you travelled was often more important than the destination.”
However, he admitted being surprised how quickly tickets sold out for the train, which is scheduled to leave Manchester Victoria at
12.20pm before arriving in Rochdale at 12.45. It will then pick up more passengers at Hebden Bridge and Brighouse. Passengers had the option of choosing Afternoon
Tea, with tickets starting at £295 each, or a Spirit of Travel Lunch costing
£395. But then they could choose to pay an extra £195 each to upgrade to drink Krug champagne during the journey.
Although the Northern Belle will not be back in
Rochdale again this year, the train will depart from Manchester in May for Edinburgh and then the Chelsea Flower Show.
Later in June there will be a steam-hauled journey over the spectacular Settle-carlisle line, followed by a posh top hat and tails trip to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot.
Fares on the train start at £295. For more details, see www.northernbelle. co.uk.