Busy time ahead for ‘Blue Pullman’ Freight line and loop ‘bash’ with DB ‘Tugs’ planned
LOCOMOTIVE Services
Group’s ‘Blue Pullman’ HST set is proving a popular choice among customers, with four of its booked excursions before Christmas having sold out.
The train’s final few trips for this year start from November 7 when the HST set will work to Whitby from Ayr, Kilmarnock, Dumfries and Carlisle.
Four days later, the train returns to the popular Yorkshire fishing port on November 11 with a train starting at Potters Bar, calling at Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage,
Hitchin, St Neots, Huntingdon, Peterborough and Grantham.
Next for the set is a series of five Edinburgh Christmas Pullman specials on November 18 (Swindon start), November 21 (Potters Bar), November 23 (Watford Jct), December 9 (Oxford), December 14 (Cardiff ) and December 19 (Holyhead).
There are also two Christmas specials, to Bath on November 20 (from Ulverston) and December 4 (Newcastle).
By mid-October, seats for the trains on November 18 and 23, plus December 9 and 14, had sold out.
Seat prices are £185 first class or £350 Pullman class, with
£40 per person supplements for a window table for two. The full programme is at online midlandpullman.com, or to make reservations, call 0800 038 5360.
A PRE-Christmas ‘bash’ of freight lines and loops on a train hauled by a DB Class 60 has been released by Pathfinder Tours.
The‘Festive Midland-Ian’is booked to run on December 16, starting at Gloucester (06.30) and picking up at Cheltenham Spa, Worcester Shrub Hill, Stourbridge Junction and Birmingham Snow Hill, having passed through the Stourbridge and Rowley Regis goods loops. The tour takes part of its name from Ian Loveday, who devised the detailed itinerary and also provides assistance with goods line access requests.
From Snow Hill, the route will include the Up & Down Small Health Goods lines, Caledonia Yard, Tyseley Up Through
Siding, Dorridge Up loop, Fenny Compton Up goods loop and the Banbury Down goods loop, before calling at Banbury station for a lunch break. Returning north, the route will traverse the Hatton goods loop, Bordesley loop, a non-stop pass through New Street station, Wolverhampton Logistics Centre, Dudley Port Up goods, Stafford RMT platform and the seldom used Oxley Chord.
Pathfinder has requested that the train is operated in topand-tail mode by Class 60s, but a Class 66 may be substituted for availability reasons. The train will include the ‘Gricers Grill’ and a licensed bar selling alcoholic and soft drinks. The fares are £129 adult standard class (£70 junior), with a party of four priced at £496. The first class adult fare is £185, junior £145, and a party of four £720. There is no premier class on this occasion.
The full itinerary is online at www.pathfindertours.co.uk, where you can book, or if preferred, you can speak to one of the booking team by calling 01453 835414.