Vintage Trains started their 2024 ‘Shakespeare Express’ season on Sunday 7th April.

The regular trains run from Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford-Upon-Avon, offering people the chance to escape the city in style and visit the home of the bard William Shakespeare.

The trip that kicked off the 2024 season was well loaded. It just beat the previous Octobers’ financial performance record, thanks in part to a high number of Pullman car passengers in Premier Dining.

Castle 4-6-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe hauled the train along a different route to normal via Dorridge because of engineering works taking place on the train’s usual route via Henley-In-Arden, highlighting the significance and the potential economic benefits of having two routes to a major destination.

The Shakespeare season will continue on Father’s Day Sunday 16th June, which will make an ideal family occasion, with the steam trains also running weekly throughout the summer holidays between July 21st and September 1st.

Due to the popularity of these trains, Vintage Trains are changing the starting points of some of these trips to cater for new markets and day trippers.

On 26th May the train will start at Derby, on 30th June the train will start from Worcester, and on the 14th of July the train will start from Leicester.

The locomotive to haul theses trains is scheduled to be No.7029 Clun Castle.

Along with these services, Vintage Trains also operate railtours across the country from their operating base in the West Midlands from Tyseley Locomotive Works outside Birmingham.

Some of their other well know tours include ‘The Polar Express Train Ride’, which takes place in December and ‘Diesel Explorers’, which offer trips to seaside towns across the midlands.

They also cater for Private Charter tours offering tailor-made tours to suit private companies and parties.

A major player in keeping steam trains running on the mainline Vintage Trains is a Charitable Trust. In 2017, their Community Benefit Society set up its very own train operating company, enabling them to run mainline express steam trains to a wide variety of destinations.

Their first class facilities at Tyseley ensure that steam engines, Pullman restaurant and parlour cars, along with other heritage rolling stock, continue to run on the national rail network at speeds of up to 75 mph.

Their workshops also support work and train new staff with the skills of locomotive and rolling stock maintenance, thus keeping the age of steam alive for others to enjoy.