Flying Scotsman faces uncertain future


Daniel Puddicombe
Sat, 30 December 2023

The Flying Scotsman operates between Edinburgh and London - Andy Jones for the Daily Telegraph

The Flying Scotsman faces an increasingly uncertain future with no one currently contracted to look after it next year, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Riley & Son, a Bury-based engineering company, has been the custodian of the famous steam train since its return to Britain’s national network in 2016.

However, there are concerns that it may be out of service for months because Riley & Son’s contract expires tomorrow, Dec 31, and the National Railway Museum, which owns the Flying Scotsman, has not issued new invitations to tender.


Ian Riley, a director of Riley & Son (E) Ltd, told the Sunday Telegraph: “We’ve heard nothing about the future. We’re as much in the dark as everyone else is. Our contract finishes on Sunday night and that’s it as far as we know until the new tender documents come out, but the NRM haven’t even decided when that will be yet.”

He added: “This isn’t an ideal place to be and I don’t know what [the NRM] is thinking.”

A spokesman for the museum said: “After the success of Flying Scotsman’s centenary year, and the locomotive’s two popular visits to the NRM, the future operation of Flying Scotsman after this date is being carefully considered.”

The spokeswoman insisted it would “safeguard the locomotive’s future” and that it would run in 2024, but would not provide a timescale of the procurement process.

The Flying Scotsman’s lack of custodian means it is effectively stranded at the National Railway Museum’s Shildon site - Russell Sach for The Telegraph

It is understood that it took five months between the last invitation to tender being issued and the contract being signed. Additionally, Network Rail requires at least 12 weeks’ notice before steam locomotives can run on the main line, while many rail tours take up to a year in advance to plan.

Further question marks over Flying Scotsman’s future operations remain following a High Court victory for the Office for Rail and Road (ORR). While Riley & Son maintain the locomotive, West Coast Railways operates it and has refused to fit modern central door locking systems to its fleet of carriages, as required by the ORR.

The Flying Scotsman’s lack of custodian means the locomotive is effectively stranded at the National Railway Museum’s Shildon site.

Meanwhile, Britain’s other world-famous steam locomotive, Tornado – which was completed in 2008, making it the first steam locomotive to be constructed since the 1960s to run on the national network, and has appeared on the Paddington 2 movie – will be returning to operations in 2024, following an overhaul, with tickets already available for its traditional Scottish season of trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.