By The Flying Scotsman is operating a reduced programme of trips for 2022.
The Flying Scotsman usually spends her year pulling trains for a number of heritage railways and commercial rail operators, giving the public a chance to travel in a range of elegant coaches behind this iconic engine at full steam, but the 2022 programme will be reduced because in April she’ll be withdrawn from service for a major overhaul in preparation for her busy centenary anniversary in 2023. The overhaul will focus on the boiler and the required re-tube and recertification.
Before April, Steam Dreams Rail Co (SDR) and The Railway Touring Company (RTC) have booked her for a handful of trips.
UPDATE: (14/03/22) Now some of her post-overhaul dates are being revealed, starting with a visit to the Bluebell Railway in Surrey for the August Bank Holiday. As I spot others, I’ll add them here.
UPDATE: (23/07/2022) Flying Scotsman’s post-overhaul visit to the Bluebell Railway has been postponed. On inspection it was discovered that Flying Scotsman’s piston rings had failed inside the cylinder and are in need of replacement. This unforeseen additional work means that new components have to be manufactured, delivered and fitted – delaying the overhaul by approximately 4-6 weeks.
UPDATE: (11/08/2022) It is confirmed that the piston ring problem can’t be fixed in time for the Bluebell Railway’s events. They can’t get parts in time. So the visit to Bluebell Railway has been cancelled.
UPDATE: (03/09/2022) Just announced: the first post-overhaul outing for the ‘Flying Scotsman’ will be to Swanage Railway Trust, Dorset in October.
Flying Scotsman (No. 60103) will visit the heritage line for 19 days from 19 October to 6 November 2022, inclusive.
She will be on static display at Swanage station on 20 & 21 October, and again from 27 October to 6 November, with ticket-only access to the platform.
She will be taking passengers on journeys from Swanage to Corfe Castle and Norden for five days between 22 – 26 October. Passengers will, appropriately, be carried in the late 1940s Devon Belle Pullman observation carriage – known as Car 14. The Devon Belle was last coupled to ‘Flying Scotsman’ when she was touring the USA between 1969 – 1972. When the company running those tours went bankrupt, Devon Belle was left behind in San Francisco. It was Swanage Railway Trust volunteers who rescued her in 2007 and brought her back to Dorset.
Flying Scotsman Programme for 2022
| RTC | London – Worcester |
Flying Scotsman No.60103 is pulling the ‘Cotswold Venturer’ train from London Paddington to Worcester via the GWR mainline and then the Cotswold Line, returning via a slightly different route in the evening. Fine dining on board. UPDATE 19/02/22: Well that’s a bit sad. Today’s trip was cancelled thanks to Storm Eunice.¹ 🙁 UPDATE 24/02/22: RTC have scheduled a new date for their ‘Cotswold Venturer’ Flying Scotsman trip –Sat 5 March. |
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| Sun 13 March | SDR | London – Oxford Day Trip | SDR are operating two return trips, in the morning and the evening, from London Paddington with dining on board. (Fully booked already) |
| Thu 17 March | SDR | London – Kent Day Trip | Two return trips, in the morning and the evening, from London Victoria to Canterbury West with dining on board. |
| Thu 24 March | SDR | London – Salisbury Day Trip | Two return trips, in the morning and the evening, from London Victoria to Salisbury with dining on board. |
| BBL | Bluebell Railway |
The Flying Scotsman will be running non-stop return services on the 11-mile heritage railway track between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead for five days from 25 – 29 August. All seats must be pre-booked in advance. Visitors can also see the locomotive on static display at Sheffield Park from 17 – 24 August and 30 August – 5 September. Tickets for footplate viewings will be available to book. UPDATE: (23/07/2022) Postponed UPDATE: (11/08/2022) Cancelled |
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| 19 Oct – 6 Nov | SRT | Swanage – Corfe Castle & Norden | Five days of trips on the heritage railway and 11 days static display. See detail above. |
ELR = East Lancashire Railway
RTC = The Railway Touring Company
SDR = The Steam Dreams Rail Company
LOC = Locomotion Museum
A1 = A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
MNR = Mid-Norfolk Railway
BBL = Bluebell Railway Trust
SRT = Swanage Railway Trust
Built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works, Flying Scotsman was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as part of the A1 class – the most powerful locomotives used by the railway. She was used by LNER for their long-distance express services, notably on the London to Edinburgh ‘Flying Scotsman’ train service after which she was named.
She still holds two world records: the longest non-stop run at 441 miles (8 Aug 1989 in Australia), and the first steam locomotive officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (30 Nov 1934 in the UK).
Flying Scotsman (No. 60103) is owned by the National Railway Museum (Review here) and operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd.
Image: Flying Scotsman pulling the Cathedrals Express train out of Edinburgh in 2016 – Graeme Pow (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Further Reading 
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I would love to go on the Flying Scotsman please can you give info for 2023 Mrs m Kelly
Hi Mary, At this stage I can’t. Nothing has been released yet. As soon as it does, I’ll post it on a new page: Flying Scotsman Trips in 2023. 🙂
Is there a phone number to book a trip and Get this costs.
Hi Irene,
If you click the link to RTC or SDR, whichever operator you are interested in, it’ll take you to their website where you can find their phone number.
I would absolutely love to go on this flying Scotsman Train. My dad who recently passed away loved this train so much, he told me many stories of the times he worked on the footplate. What a special train he loved the wind and he used to say it as a smell all of its own and a lovely sound
Bless my dad
Hope you get to do it! 🙂
Hi Linda,
I haven’t seen a detailed timetable. Often these appear in local newspapers, social media posts and on trainspotting forums nearer the time. All I know at this stage is that it is scheduled to depart London Paddington at 0845 arriving Oxford at 1100 (which seems like a rather long time to me, for a journey that normally takes just over an hour, but that may be to allow for meal service). Then it departs Oxford 1845 and arrives back in London at 2100.
Hi, is there a route available for the Flying Scotsman journey from London to Oxford on 13th March please? My dad, Colin Corcoran, drove the engine many times in his career as a railwayman. Now sadly in a home with Alzheimers and dementia, I would love to video the engine for him. Thank you