Royal Train's Final Stop: King Charles to Retire Iconic 'Palace on Wheels' Beloved by Queen Elizabeth After Cost Concerns
A summary of the Sovereign Grant Report 2024-2025 stated that the train will be retired before its contract expires in March 2027
Queen Elizabeth was known to be fond of the transport and reportedly saved it from being scrapped in 2017King Charles' office is screeching the Royal Train to a halt.
On June 30, the Royal Household released the Sovereign Grant Report 2024-2025 and, in a key detail, revealed that the Royal Train will be decommissioned.
The Sovereign Grant funds the royal family's official duties and maintenance of the occupied palaces, and its annual financial statement is full of details about how the royal family spends that money. A summary of the report stated that the Royal Train will be retired before its current contract expires in March 2027, "following a thorough review into its use and value for money."
The Royal Train has been called "a palace on wheels" and hasn't been used much during King Charles' reign. In June 2018, Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth memorably rode the Royal Train to Cheshire for their first joint outing after the Duchess of Sussex married Prince Harry and embraced a full-time working royal role.
The Royal Train was a favored travel option for Queen Elizabeth and other senior royals because it allowed them to relax and work en route.
The royal transport featured nine burgundy carriages and was complete with an office, sleeping quarters and dining areas, creating a home away from home for royals on the go.
In March, The Telegraph reported that the fate of the Royal Train was up in the air amid an ongoing review following Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022, which sparked King Charles' accession to the throne.
The outlet said that the locomotive operated by DB Cargo UK was "phenomenally costly to run," citing an example of how a two-day trip the King took to North Yorkshire in June 2023 cost $71,340.
The King reportedly used the Royal Train to travel to the Midlands in March, taking it out for the first time since May 2024.
Though the train runs on seriously sustainable hydro-treated vegetable oil, the outlet reported that the environmentally minded monarch used it just twice in 2023.
The Royal Household's decision to retire the transport hints that the King is less sentimental about the Royal Train than his late mother, who The Telegraph said saved it from being scrapped in 2017.
Heir to the throne Prince William has also taken public trains to travel to his engagements, recently surprising commuters in Wales with his wife, Kate Middleton, over the winter.
The Sovereign Grant report summary, covering April 2024 to March 2025, also included several key updates — among them, the note that both King Charles and Princess Kate began phased returns to public duties during this period following their cancer diagnoses.
Also included in the report were major updates on royal spending, engagements, and infrastructure.
The total Sovereign Grant remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive year at $108.8 million, split between $65.3 million for core funding and $43.5 million for the ongoing Buckingham Palace refurbishment project. Supplementary income rose to $27.1 million, thanks in part to record visitor numbers at Buckingham Palace during the Summer Opening and exclusive tours of the newly refurbished East Wing, which drew over 10,700 guests.
The royal family collectively undertook more than 1,900 public engagements in the U.K. and abroad, while over 93,000 people attended 828 official events across royal residences.
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Work on Buckingham Palace continued at pace, with nearly 9 miles of new electrical cabling and more than 12 miles of mechanical pipework installed, along with accessibility upgrades including lifts and new lavatories.
Reflecting on the year, Keeper of the Privy Purse James Chalmers, said: 'Soft power is hard to measure but its value is, I believe, now firmly understood at home and abroad, as the core themes of the new reign have come into even sharper focus, and the Royal Family have continued in their service to the nation, Realms and Commonwealth.'
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