A high-speed train service from London to Edinburgh will be named to celebrate the reign of King Charles – and will start running on the day of his Coronation.
London North Eastern Railway announced that its daily 11am service from King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley would be known as the Carolean Express.
British history under Charles III will be known as the Carolean era, as it was during the reigns of Charles I and II.
The first Carolean Express will depart at 11am on Saturday May 6 – the minute that the Coronation begins at Westminster Abbey. It is due to arrive in the Scottish capital at 3.27pm.
It will take its place in the LNER timetable alongside the Flying Scotsman, which runs from Edinburgh to London, the Highland Chieftain, which runs between King’s Cross and Inverness, and the Northern Lights, between London and Aberdeen.
LNER, which runs long-distance services on the East Coast Main Line, has previously named trains and services to mark important royal occasions.
These include Silver Jubilee in 1935 for George V, Coronation in 1937 for George VI and The Elizabethan in 1953 for Elizabeth II.
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: “We’re delighted to be continuing the tradition of royal recognition through our fleet of Azuma trains and services with the introduction of the Carolean Express.
“We know that our customers like to hear about our named services and fleet and we’re sure this new addition will prove popular.
“In our 100-year history we’ve had services to celebrate important occasions in royal history and we are proud to mark the reign of King Charles III.”
LNER is operating a full timetable over the Coronation Bank Holiday. Other rail firms are laying on extra trains to get people to London – and to Windsor for the Coronation Concert on Sunday May 7.
But travellers have been warned to expect long queues getting in and out of Windsor – and to ensure they get back to London well before midnight on Sunday night.
This is because there will be no late night Tube services – putting Londoners at risk of being stranded at Waterloo.
A Rail Delivery Group spokeswoman said: “Train companies are working hard to keep journeys running smoothly, including running additional services where possible, but trains are expected to be busy and queueing systems may be in place in some areas.
“Passengers should plan their journey in advance, allow extra time and check live updates while travelling.”
Great Western Railway, which operates in and out of Paddington will have very early trains on Saturday morning that will call at major stations only, to make it quicker to get to London.
GoVia Thameslink, which runs Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink trains, said that, where possible, it would be lengthening trains to run in the longest formations possible on Coronation Day.
Network Rail said there would be no engineering works on the Saturday, and engineering work planned between Waterloo, Windsor and Reading for the Sunday had been cancelled.
However, there would be no Southern and Gatwick Express services in and out of Victoria on May 7 and 8.
Southeastern will run extra trains on the Saturday, including an additional hourly service between Dartford and Charing Cross via Bexleyheath. These trains will run from 7.44am into Charing Cross; and until 11.49pm to Dartford. These will be 10- or 12-car trains.
Longer trains will also run on the Maidstone East Line, and on services between Victoria and Gillingham.
All 20,000 tickets for the Coronation Concert, featuring Katy Perry and Take That, have been allocated. Any Londoners heading to Windsor are advised to use South Western Railway services from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside.
Passengers travelling from the Midlands and the South West should use Great Western Railway services via Reading and Slough to Windsor and Eton Central station.
Both SWR and GWR will run “enhanced” services to Windsor on the Sunday. The concert starts at 8pm but access for ticket holders will be from 3pm.
The concert is due to finish at 10pm. A queuing system will be in place at Windsor & Eton Riverside, with warnings of a “long wait”.
Trains will run into the early hours of Monday morning. But the last Northern line and Bakerloo line Tubes will leave Waterloo around 11.40pm – with the last Jubilee line services departing either side of midnight.
