Royal train to be decommissioned with family to rely on new helicopters for transport

The King will be bidding the 'fondest of farewells' to the nine-carriage train.

At the briefing revealing the family's annual finances, a huge £91m cash injection for royal funding was confirmed, and it was announced that the King will be bidding the 'fondest of farewells' to the royal train.

Keeper of the Privy Purse James Chalmers labelled the move as an example of the royal household's 'fiscal discipline' in its aim of delivering 'value for money.'

The annual accounts showed that royal travel increased by £500,000 to £4.7m last year, and payroll costs were up £2m to £29.9m.

Mr Chalmer explained: "The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved.

"But in moving forward, we must not be bound by the past. Just as so many parts of the royal household's work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too, the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells, as we seek to be disciplined and forward in our allocation of funding," he added.

"With His Majesty's support, it has therefore been decided that the process to decommission the royal train will commence next year."

According to the annual royal accounts, the King and the Royal Family will now rely on two new helicopters when the nine-carriage train stops running ahead of a maintenance contract ending in 2027.

It was decided that future running costs of the train were too high; however, there is hope that the train will visit parts of the UK while a long-term home is found for the carriage.

It's reported that the King has fond memories of the carriage.

The rundown of royal finances, from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, includes a £400,500 bill to fly the King and Queen and their staff to Australia and Samoa last October.

The total cost of official royal travel was £4.7m - a rise of £500,000 from the previous year.

An uplift in the sovereign grant, which funds the public work of the Royal Family, also was confirmed for the next two years, rising from £86.3m to £132m.

This comes as wind farm deals on Crown Estate land helped boost profits to £1.1bn. 

Speaking to Sky News, Graham Smith, from the anti-monarchy group Republic stated: "The whole process of reporting the finances of the royal household needs to be taken out of the hands of the royal household.

"It should be dealt with by the Treasury and it should be reported by the government to parliament where it can be properly scrutinised.

"For example, the details of their travel costs are not broken down, and in parliament people can ask serious questions about why they're spending so much money on themselves."

Republic has released their own report suggesting the full annual cost of the monarchy is well over half a billion pounds; that is including factors such as security and unpaid taxes.