The British royal train will be decommissioned by 2027, Buckingham Palace has announced, as part of a raft of cost-cutting measures.
The royal train was first commissioned under Queen Victoria. The Sovereign Grant is paid annually to the monarch from the Treasury to fund the monarch’s official duties, including transport costs.
James Chalmers, keeper of the privy purse, said scrapping the train would help to keep transport costs in check after a rise of about £500,000 in the last year.
“The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved,” he said.
“But in moving forward, we must not be bound by the past. Just as so many parts of the royal household’s work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells, as we seek to be disciplined and forward in our allocation of funding.
“With His Majesty’s support, it has therefore been decided that the process...