Royal Train

A Royal Train is a set of carriages dedicated for the use of the head of state of a monarchy or other members of that particular royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages.

British Royal Train

Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by train, on 13 June 1842, when she travelled on the Great Western Railway (GWR), which ran the line between London and Windsor (for the Castle). Pretty soon, other major British railway companies had their own carriage(s) dedicated for use by the Royal Family or other dignitaries.

In 1948, upon the formation of British Railways, the individual regions continued to maintain their own Royal Train carriages. A single "Royal Train" was only formed in 1977 as a response to the demands of the Silver Jubilee. This train has been maintained since privatisation of the UK's railways by EWS, although the Royal Family has travelled on ordinary service trains more frequently in recent years to minimize costs.

Australian Royal Trains

The various government railway operators of Australia have operated a number of royal trains for members of the Monarchy of Australia on their Royal visits to Australia.

Japanese Royal Train

In Japan, trains for the Emperor, the Empress, or the Empress Dowager are called "Omeshi Ressha" . However, both "Omeshi Ressha" and "Gojōyō Ressha" refer to a non-scheduled service solely operated for the Family. In other words, normal train cars can also be called by the either term, when they are operated for such a service. These royal trains are operated not only by JR, but also by other private operators as well. Dedicated cars, however, have been only used by JNR. After JNR was disorganized, all the cars were succeeded by JR East. Consequently, now, the cars are almost always used within JR East lines.

In the modern period, royal trains are used less and less, as the current Emperor Akihito does not want his country's people to be troubled by non-scheduled trains. When he moves inside Japan, he generally uses an airplane, or a scheduled normal train with a reserved carriage. Royal trains are still operated for a few times per year, but they mainly function as a cordial reception for state guests, rather than a mere transportation of the Family.

Norwegian Royal Train

The Norwegian State Railways maintains a set of royal train carriages. The current set was introduced in 1994 in connection with the Lillehammer Olympics and replaced a set from 1962. The set contains a main sleeping compartment with dressing room and adjoining bathroom, two guest compartments, guest bathroom, kitchen, guard compartments and a combined dining and conference room. [ [http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2001/08/14/274809.html Dagbladet article on the new Royal Train (Norwegian)] ]

The set is pulled by ordinary railway locomotives and most often ordinary passenger carriages for press and other guests are added.

Dutch Royal Train

The Dutch State Railways uses a single Royal carriage to transport the Queen and her family. It was ordered by the Dutch Royal Family in 1991, and construction was finished in 1993. It replaced a previous two-carriage Royal Train built in 1930, which is currently on display in the Dutch Railway Museum [ [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/content.jsp?objectid=4520 Page at the official site of the Dutch Royal Family about the Royal train] nl] . When the Queen travels by train, a single locomotive travels ahead to explore the tracks. The train itself is composed of two ordinary locomotives of the Dutch State Railways (head and tail of the train), the royal carriage itself, and two ordinary first class passenger carriages for staff, press and other guests.

North Korean Presidential Train

North Korea operates a presidential train for its head of state, Kim Jong Il. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2204146.stm] The train is Kim Jong Il's preferred method of travel as he is afraid of flying. Very little is known about the train other than its heavily armored.

ee also

* Royal Yacht
* Official state car
* Air transports of Heads of State

References