The Dutch bid farewell to their royal train
Dutch operator NS, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will bid farewell to their royal train later this month. The official state visit to Belgium on June 20-22 will mark the final outing for the carriage, NS said on Thursday. The royal train will be donated to the Dutch Railway Museum.
According to NS, the royal train has reached the end of its functional life. The ‘train’ comprises a single carriage, which is based on rolling stock from the 1980s, manufactured by now largely defunct German company Talbot. It is designated as SR10, and made its debut in 1993. The carriage features a salon, two small bedrooms, a modest kitchen and a meeting area for a maximum of six people.
This makes for a stark difference with the UK royal train, which has nine carriages in service and two others stored away. The British train features multiple sleeping and dining cars.
Sending the royal train off to retirement brings to an end a period of close to 160 years during which time various royal rolling stock was used. This also means a new royal train is currently not on the cards. The first royal carriages made their debut back in 1864. Over the past decades, the train was not only used by the royal family but was often also called upon to transport foreign heads of state.
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I hope that it will be preserved in a museum.