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Fancy yourself a keen ferroequinologist? If you know what that word means, the answer is probably yes. For anyone not in the know, it’s the technical term given to anyone who’s really, really into trains.
For all the self-professed trainspotters and railfans among us, we have something right up your track. The London Transport Museum is offering people the chance to take a trip on a 1930s art deco train next month.
Yep, restored heritage tube trains will be running along the Piccadilly line across the early May Bank Holiday to celebrate the dark blue line’s 120th birthday. The four-carriage-long railcars’ wooden frame windows and stunning red and green upholstery will transport you all the way back to before World War II – when the Victoria and Jubilee lines hadn’t even been built yet. The 1938 stock was the first kind of tube train to have all the electrical equipment underneath the floor, and served several of the Big Smoke’s deep-level tube lines for half a century. They’re a proper piece of London Underground history.
Three different options are on offer, running through some of the oldest tunnels in the whole underground. On Saturday May 2 these historic carriages will be making their way between Northfields and the Heathrow Loop. Each journey will last approximately 45 minutes and starts and ends at the same place, meaning there’s no hopping off halfway through.
On Sunday May 3 and the subsequent Bank Holiday Monday on May 4, tickets will be available for journeys from Cockfosters to Northfields or Northfields to Cockfosters. Again, all the routes include a return, so you’ll always end up in the same place you started, and these trips will last a total of 70 minutes.
Did you know that early London Underground trains were split into classes? Well, this convention is being brought back for the heritage train rides. While you won’t need to reserve a specific seat, you can choose from a Gold ticket, priced at £30 for adults and £20 for children, to ride up front in the first carriage, or Bronze cars one, two, three – the middle and end carriages of the train. These are priced at £25 for adults and £15 for kids, although children under three go free on all the routes.
A selection of trips are available each day. Check out the London Transport Museum’s website here to see each time slot you can choo choo choose from.
Did you see that three London bus routes (and two DLR lines) are now free to ride for two months?
Plus: this historic east London picture house is reopening – and it could have a surprising new operator.
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