Toffs train is on a winner

BIRMINGHAN International Station will look more like a fashion show on Thursday (June 20) morning when around scores well-dressed punters gather on a specially-laid red carpet to board Britain’s poshest train for a slap-up trip to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot.

They are paying up to £900 each to sip champagne as they tuck into brunch aboard the 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle during the four-hour journey to Ascot station in Berkshire.

The racecourse’s strict dress code stipulates that “gentlemen should wear a full-length suit and tie at all times while ladies are required to wear a hat or fascinator”.

But many of the men are expected to turn on the style by dressing up in top hats and tails.

A Northern Belle spokesman said: “Our passengers usually look smart when they travel on our train because we like to think every trip is a special occasion.

“But for Ladies Day, some of them really like to push the boat out by putting on the style.”

Royal Ascot was always a firm favourite with the late Queen Elizabeth who liked to arrive from Windsor in a horse-drawn landau.

The Northern Belle trip sold out in record time this year despite basic tickets costing £695, which includes a six-course dinner with wine and port on the way home in the evening.

Some passengers have chosen to pay an extra £195 to upgrade to Krug glass and drink some of the world’s finest champagne on the train, which leaves Birmingham at 9am.

The Northern Belle, described by narrator Bill Nighy on Channel 5’s “The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys” programme as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel”, will return to Birmingham in July for a steam-hauled trip over the picturesque Settle-Carlisle line.

There will also be days out in Dorset and Devon during August, followed by another Settle-Carlisle steam trip in October.

Fares on the Northern Belle start at £295. For further details see www.nothernbelle.co.uk