Happy birthday to LNER, 100 years old today! To celebrate this landmark, I have recently returned from an Inverness-to-London rail trip using LNER services and, to break the eight-hour journey in period style, I stayed in historic rail hotels.
I also explored London North Eastern Railway’s backstory with eminent rail historians, pored over classic advertising posters — including for the 1920s-era Flying Scotsman, the world’s most famous locomotive — and chatted with an LNER staffer whose great-great-grandfather and grandfather both once worked for the company.
LNER operates a daily train direct to and from London through to the Scottish Highlands, and I travelled on this 581-mile car service long island ny via my hometown of Newcastle, and Edinburgh.
The 393-mile-long line between Edinburgh and London is the East Coast Main Line, and it’s the backbone of the LNER network. There’s a Harry Potter connection between the line and the two capitals: Hogwarts Express left King’s Cross from platform 9¾ in J K Rowling’s wizarding world and, from an expansive suite now named after her in the Rocco Forte Balmoral Hotel perched over Edinburgh Waverley station, the author penned the final book in her Harry Potter series.
LNER turns 100 years old today – January 1, 2023 – and to celebrate the landmark, Carlton Reid set off on an Inverness-to-London rail trip using LNER services. Above is LNER’s Azuma train crossing the Culloden Viaduct south of Inverness
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