London Northwestern Railway has announced that it has been celebrating 180 years since the first train to operate between London and Birmingham.

On 17 September 1838, the then London Northwestern Railway (LNWR) operated the first train from London Euston and arrived in Birmingham Curzon Street five and a half hours later.

180 years later, and in 2018, 180 train services a day operate along the same route.

To celebrate the anniversary, between 8 am and 9 am, passengers arriving into London Euston were surprised with breakfast.

A giveaway is taking place at Birmingham New Street to coincide with the year that the original owning company on the route, London and Birmingham Railway (later became London and Northwestern Railway), was formed.

The 112-mile long railway has seen vast improvements since it opened, with record levels of investment due to be spent over the coming years.

In addition to this, with the construction of HS2, Birmingham’s Curzon Street station will be rebuilt on it’s former site.

What did the officials say?

Andrew Conroy, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway said:

“The southern stretch of the West Coast mainline remains a key route on our network. To mark this significant anniversary, we wanted to give something back to our customers who travel with us day in day out. A lot may have changed over the past 180 years, including the operators who run services – even though the names seen on the route have remained very similar!”

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