Edinburgh to welcome iconic classic train offering Christmas lunch experience

One of the world’s most luxurious trains will be departing from Edinburgh Waverley this Christmas season - serving passengers a seven-course lunch while travelling 70mph through the wintry countryside.

The 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle – once part of the iconic Orient Express group – is reminiscent of a bygone era of rail travel. A red carpet is even laid out for passengers while boarding.

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The train will take passengers on a festive five-hour ride through the countryside after picking up at Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central.

The Sunday December 1 tickets sold out weeks ago, with the £395 fare including champagne and wine.

Adding to the ambiance, the train’s resident musicians will entertain passengers while a magician will perform tricks as he strolls through the carriages.

A spokesman said: “You’d be Christmas crackers to miss it, so it may still be worth checking for late cancellations.

“We like to think the Northern Belle harks back to the golden days of rail travel – an era when nothing was too good for the pampered passengers.

“We even lay a red carpet across the station platform before they board and are handed their first glass of champagne.”

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The Northern Belle is regularly voted one of the world’s Top Ten trains and one of the individually hand-decorated carriages used to form part of the Royal Train. It is even rumoured to contain the late Queen Mum’s favourite seat.

Actor Bill Nighy described the train as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when it featured on Channel 5’s The World’s most Scenic Railway Journeys.

The Northern Belle’s Christmas Special will depart from Edinburgh at 12.55 and Glasgow at 11.40.

The train will be back in the two cities for lunch and afternoon tea journeys next July, before a trip past Loch Lomond to Oban in August.

Fares start at £365. For more details and to book, you can visit www.northernbelle.co.uk .

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