LONDON — The Royal Train may be sidetracked for good next year as part of a drive to reduce the cost of royal travel to taxpayers, a wire service reports.
The accountant for Queen Elizabeth II said Wednesday that reduced use of the luxury nine-carriage Royal Train was making it increasingly hard to justify its existence.
Sir Michael Peat, keeper of the Privy Purse, said the distinctive maroon train would get one final chance to prove its worth this year when the queen uses it on a lengthy tour of Britain to celebrate 50 years on the throne. Complete with bedrooms, bathrooms and offices, the train will become her home away from home.
But once the Golden Jubilee year is over, the future of the train, which costs an average of $50,400 for each 550-mile journey, is by no means assured.
“There is no complacency. We are considering all possibilities to get the cost down,” Peat said.
The train has been used less frequently in recent years as the queen and other members of the Royal family have increasingly traveled by helicopter or scheduled rail services to keep costs down.
The Royal Train’s royal stock is more than 30 years old and cannot travel on mainlines during the day because it would hold up other services. It also cannot use the Channel Tunnel.
When the Royal Household took over responsibility for royal travel arrangements in 1997, it reduced the size of the train from 14 to eight coaches. That cut running costs from $2.7 million a year to $864,000 by 2000.
Its two Royal Class 47 diesel locomotives, Prince William and Prince Henry, are used for general duties when not needed for the Royal Train.