Extra trains planned as people head to London to mourn Queen
Extra late-night trains will run out of London from Wednesday to help people travelling to pay their respects to the Queen return home.
However, the additional services will be drop-off only and limited to the major commuter routes out of the city, with no more intercity services available for the huge numbers of people from further afield who are expected to attend the lying in state of the Queen in Westminster Hall.
The Rail Delivery Group said customers should check train operators’ websites before travelling to plan their journeys, as the additional services will not be widely advertised. Some engineering work has also been postponed to help trains run.
South Western, Southeastern and Greater Anglia are among operators expected to lay on limited additional trains late at night this week, when mourners will be able to queue to view the Queen’s coffin throughout the night.
No more intercity services will be added on other mainlines. Avanti West Coast, which operates trains between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, has failed to run a normal schedule for a month. However, industry sources said there remained plentiful capacity on most other operators’ services to the capital.
A normal weekday timetable is expected to run next Monday for the Queen’s funeral, rather than the reduced bank holiday schedule, to enable more people to travel. Hundreds of thousands are expected to pay their respects over the coming days, and to line the streets of London and Windsor on the day of the funeral.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “The rail industry is doing all it can to ensure people can travel to pay their respects during the period of mourning.
“Where possible, we will be running some extra services, including a
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