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Festive train to return to the Highlands this Christmas

Children will have the chance to meet Santa Claus at Aviemore Station.

Santa Express on the Strathspey line
The Santa Express will return to the Strathspey heritage line next month. Image: Peter Jolly.

Children of all ages will have the opportunity to meet Santa at Aviemore Station in the lead up to Christmas.

Strathspey Steam Railway has confirmed its popular festive services will return to the Highlands this December.

Families are invited to enjoy “festive fun” on a heritage steam train as it travels through the Cairngorms.

They will be able to view the winter landscape with select tickets including a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie, or a soft drink and treat for youngsters.

Santa Claus will also be at Aviemore Station on each of the festive travel days to meet all of the passengers.

‘Santa Express’ departing from Aviemore

The train services will run between Aviemore and Broomhill next month on December 9, 10, 16, 17, 21 and 22.

The railway’s timetable will then come to an end for the year.

Aviemore Station sign
Santa Claus will be visiting Aviemore Station this December. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

Tickets can be booked online now with several options available, including exclusive first-class compartments.

Guests are also able to book an afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones and festive cakes for their journey.

Services will run at 11am and 2pm on the scheduled days, with afternoon tea only served on the latter.

Tickets available now

There were fears just last month that Strathspey Railway’s Christmas schedule would not be able to go ahead.

The calendar of services was thrown into turmoil following a collision on the Strathspey heritage line involving the Flying Scotsman on September 28.

As a result, plans for the Festive train service had to be put on hold.

Luckily, all inspections were carried out in plenty of time for the festive activities to be organised.

Tickets for all of Strathspey Railway’s services can be booked via the website.

Mechanical inspections to begin on Flying Scotsman following ‘slow speed’ collision

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