14th December 2019

UK Railtours
The Christmas Chester Chuffer

Tour cancelled, due to operational difficulties.

Notes :
(1) The relevant part of the e-mail from UK Railtours stated: “I am sorry to advise you that The Chester Chuffer will not now be running. We have been advised by Locomotive Services Ltd., operators of this tour, that the company does not see a future in operating “third party” charter trains, that is to say services provided to tour companies such as ourselves. Contributing to this issue is a resistance by our customers to the use of Mark 2 air-conditioned rolling stock on main line steam tours. All Standard Class and some First Class vehicles used by LSL are of this type. Despite the better environment and ride quality of the Mark 2s, it seems that most of our steam customers prefer traditional Mark 1 carriages with opening windows, so they can listen to the steam locomotive at work. Taking these and other issues into account, we have decided, with considerable regret and after full discussion with LSL, that our most prudent course of action is to withdraw the tour at this early stage, rather than press on with a business relationship and a pattern of onboard service that holds no future for us and may not be what some customers were expecting.”

Source : John Clifford (booked on tour)

Timings (Advertised Only)
(from UKR brochure)

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