Steam trains banned in heatwave after Harry Potter train fire

Nostalgic daytrippers have been left hot and bothered after a nationwide steam train ban was quietly put in place over health and safety concerns. Disappointed families’ long-planned trips have been thrown into chaos after Network Rail imposed the ban amid fears of trackside fires during the ongoing heatwave, after sparks from a Harry Potter train are thought to have started a wildfire. The grounding of Britain’s iconic steam locomotives has led to heritage railways ripping up timetables, with services cancelled and diesel engines being brought in as last-minute replacements. It comes ahead of one of the busiest weekends of the year as schools up and down the country begin their summer holidays. The move follows a blaze last Saturday reportedly triggered by a Harry Potter train, which led to the West Coast Main Line being closed in both directions. The resulting weekend-long disruption saw some 72 trains cancelled and a further 158 delayed. One angry customer was left steaming after booking a trip on West Coast Railways’ Jacobite Steam Train. The locomotive is known globally as the real-life Hogwarts Express because it passes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which features in the film adaptations of JK Rowling’s children’s novels.

Writing a review on TripAdvisor this week, he branded the service as ‘rubbish’, saying: ‘Poor show for the price. No steam train the day we went and regular blue and white intercity carriages. ‘A lot of disappointed kids the day we were there. Nothing Hogwarts about it. I asked for our trip to be transferred but was told it was sold out every day. Nonsense. Our carriage was half empty.’ Elsewhere, one family told of their disappointment after they received a message out of the blue explaining their £180-a-head Spirit of Summer Lunch from London’s Paddington Station to the Chiltern Hills had been hit by the ban.

The message, sent 48 hours before the trip, said: ‘We are writing to inform you that regretfully, due to the increased risk of line side fires following a prolonged period of dry weather and extreme heat, Network Rail has implemented a nationwide steam ban extending across this week which includes the date of our Spirit of Summer Lunch tour on Thursday 16th July.

‘As a result, we are unfortunately unable to operate the Spirit of Summer Lunch with a steam locomotive, but our trip will still run as scheduled on Thursday, using the same beautifully restored vintage carriages and offering the same high standard of on-board service. ‘In place of steam, the train will be hauled by a vintage diesel locomotive.’ The message added: ‘We greatly appreciate your understanding and continued support. ‘Steam bans are only introduced by Network Rail in exceptional circumstances and as a last resort during periods of extreme fire risk, when safety of the railway and surrounding communities must take priority.’

Despite the message, Steam Dreams Rail Co, which operates the trip, says on its website that one of its steam locomotives is still scheduled for the outing, although the name of the engine is yet to be confirmed. It adds that the locomotive rostered for the ‘steam hauled sections of the trip’ cannot be guaranteed and ‘may be substituted for a different engine’. Meanwhile, one of the world’s most luxurious trains – the Northern Belle – has also apparently run out of steam and seen services hit. A £595-per-head experience promising ‘a journey back to the Golden Days of rail travel’ on the Settle and Carlisle Special this Saturday will now see a diesel locomotive haul the 1930s Pullman-style carriages, instead of an historic steam engine.

A spokesperson for the Northern Belle said: ‘Obviously this is a big disappointment for both us and many of our passengers. ‘But there is a very high fire risk after all the recent hot weather so we are using a heritage diesel locomotive instead. ‘Our trip over the lovely Settle-Carlisle line should still be an absolute delight, for our chef will be cooking up a sumptuous brunch and dinner. ‘And as compensation, we are refunding £50 to passengers as well as offering them a complimentary cocktail onboard.’

The train – which was once part of the Orient Express – was voted the fifth best in the world by readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine last year. Other services hit include the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which apologised to customers on Wednesday after publishing a revised timetable ‘due to limited availability of some of our locomotives’. Network Rail took the decision to ban steam trains due to the risks of wildfires caused by burning cinders and sparks from their decades-old coal-fired engines.

In ordinary weather, this poses little threat, but weeks of blistering sun have left trackside grass embankments and surrounding farmland tinder-dry. Last Saturday’s fire happened near Winsford, Cheshire after a privately-owned engine known as ‘Black Five No.44871′ was making a 70-mile journey to nearby Crewe from its home in Carnforth, Lancashire. While the engine was being towed by a diesel locomotive – meaning its boiler did not need to be fired up – a video of its journey posted online by a train enthusiast showed smoke belching from the steam engine’s chimney. The engine, which is regularly used on West Coast Railways’ Jacobite service, is understood to have operated an excursion to Holyhead in North Wales the following day. A Network Rail spokesperson said: ‘The current long periods of hot dry weather have increased the risk of wildfires across the country. ‘As a result, we have asked charter operators to replace steam engines with diesels in line with our steam charter fire risk policy.’ Network Rail are understood to be still investigating the source of the blaze on the West Coast mainline on Saturday.

A spokesperson for West Coast Railways – the UK’s leading independent heritage railway operator and train operating company – stressed the firm had followed strict fire safety protocols. ‘Network Rail use an established fire-risk assessment process for steam operations, across the network, which creates a colour-coded series of levels and mitigations, green (normal steam operations) to black (no steam), according to conditions,’ they said. ‘All operators of steam locomotives adhere to that process. ‘Last week, the level was red, which requires any steam operation to be assisted by a diesel locomotive, with the steam loco in steam, but for little more than lubrication and braking purposes. ‘This process has worked successfully for several years, in similar weather conditions; indeed there were five other steam operations on the network, on Saturday, all of which ran without incident. ‘The Jacobite Steam Train has its own localised fire-risk assessment process, which, as recently as yesterday, has remained green for normal steam operation. ‘The rest of the network is currently black, which had been forecast last week, anyway, and is expected to remain so for the next week or so, until there is a break in the warm weather. ‘Charter trains, which would have otherwise been steam-hauled, will now either be diesel-hauled or, in a few cases, postponed.’