A tartan-clad piper will play a sad lament at Paragon Station in November before Britain’s poshest train sets off on a Christmas shopping trip to Edinburgh.
Red carpets will be laid across the platform as passengers board the 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle.
Then liveried stewards will hand them their first glass of champagne before they tuck into a slap-up breakfast during the journey to Scotland, stopping only to pick up more passengers at York.
Tickets for the trip on Saturday 14th November are selling out quickly despite costing almost £500.
A spokesman said: “Edinburgh is always one of our favourite destinations, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
“It’s a marvellous place to do a bit of festive shopping. And there is also the opportunity for passengers to visit the late Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Yacht Britannia at nearby Leith.”
Passengers will be served more champagne during the evening followed by a sumptuous six-course gourmet dinner, with caviar, wine and port on the way home.
And, to add an extra touch of class, they will be serenaded by the train’s resident musicians while they dine.
The spokesman added: “We won’t just be taking them to Edinburgh, we will be transporting them back to the golden days of rail travel when nothing was too good for the pampered passenger.”
Actor Bill Nighy described the Northern Belle as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when it featured on a Channel 5 documentary.
And last year, it was voted the world’s fifth greatest train by readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine.
There will also be a series of special Christmas Lunch trips aboard the Northern Belle from various stations in Yorkshire. For further details about the train, see www.northernbelle.co.uk