RAILWAY OPERATIONS
OPERATING THE ROYAL TRAIN PART 2
Career railwayman Geoff Griffiths worked through the ranks from a clerical grade to become a Royal Train manager. Now enjoying retirement, Geoff concludes his story into planning of operations, and reflects on when things didn’t go quite to plan.
THERE was an overnight train for The Queen from Euston to Bradford, timed to pass through Doncaster at a reasonable time in the morning. At 06.25, my mobile rang.
It was the Royal Train officer, Nick Edwards. Could I nip round to Asda to get a hairdryer? The Queen’s lady in waiting was in panic mode after finding she had forgotten the hairdryer, and the one on the train wasn’t working.
I nudged the wife and said: “You need to get up early today, I want to borrow your hairdryer.” After she had made herself look half decent, we made our way to Doncaster station and awaited the arrival of the train on platform eight.
My mobile rang again. I said: “It’s okay. We’re in position with the hairdryer.” The reply was: “The fridge has broken down and the milk has gone off.”
I walked over to the Costa Coffee booth and asked the lady – Janet – if I could purchase two large bottles of milk, to which she replied: “We don’t sell milk on its own.”
I said: “If I told you that the Royal Train will be arriving right in front of you in the next 10 minutes and The Queen is waiting for a brew, would that make any difference?”
The milk appeared on the counter and Janet spent the rest of the day basking in glory, telling her customers what had happened. I later sent her a picture of herself with the milk and a letter on behalf of the Royal Household, thanking her for saving the day.
A Royal delay
In August 2007 we ran an overnight train from Aberdeen to London. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh had been staying at Balmoral for the summer. They had been joined by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, and were all due to travel to London to attend a memorial service for Princess Diana.
Unfortunately, a complete power failure at Rugeley brought the train to a stand. When power was restored, and the train now 53 minutes late, there was a distinct possibility that the royal party would not make it in time.
Network Rail decided damage limitation was the order of the day. With the cooperation of Virgin Trains, it was agreed the Royal Train would be given priority on its journey south. After all, Richard Branson was also attending the service.
Permission was sought from The Queen to run at the maximum permitted speed instead of the sedate pace normally run. The Queen gave the nod, and with a clear road ahead the train set off at lightning pace for London.