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Tue 1 Jul 2025
The British royal train will be decommissioned by 2027, Buckingham Palace has announced, as part of a raft of cost-cutting measures.
The royal train was first commissioned under Queen Victoria. The Sovereign Grant is paid annually to the monarch from the Treasury to fund the monarch’s official duties, including transport costs.
James Chalmers, keeper of the privy purse, said scrapping the train would help to keep transport costs in check after a rise of about £500,000 in the last year.
“The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved,” he said.
“But in moving forward, we must not be bound by the past. Just as so many parts of the royal household’s work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells, as we seek to be disciplined and forward in our allocation of funding.
“With His Majesty’s support, it has therefore been decided that the process to decommission the royal train will commence next year.”
The Queen at Salisbury Train Station on her Diamond Jubilee tour – Shutterstock
The maintenance contract for the nine-carriage train is set to expire in early 2027 and will not be renewed. In its place, the royal family will procure two new helicopters that it will use to make trips around the UK.
Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by train, on 13 June 1842. In 1869 she commissioned a pair of coaches for £1,800 (equivalent to £210,000 in 2023) from the London and North Western Railway for her family’s exclusive use.
In recent years, the royal train has been used relatively rarely – usually fewer than 10 trips a year. The train drivers were selected based on their skills, including the ability to make a station stop within six inches of the designated position.
The train’s carriages include a saloon for the King which comprises a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom – as well as a 12-seater dining car and kitchen.
Its most prominent outing in modern times was in December 2020 when the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge travelled across Britain on to thank communities and key workers for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s hoped the train will continue make visits to parts of the UK, before a retirement home is identified for the carriages to go on display for the public.
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