Whether wanting to dine with friends, family, or just a quiet evening with a loved one, this is the ideal evening to soak up the atmospheric journey, steam hauled, through the beautiful Irwell Valley.
Expect a sparkling welcome drink upon boarding and a sumptuous four course, silver served meal followed by coffee and after dinner chocolate. With your own personal waiter/waitress for the evening you can relax knowing every aspect of your experience will be catered for to the highest standards.
Boarding commences at approximately 7:15pm with a prompt departure of 7:30pm. You will be advised of your table number and carriage when checking in at boarding. The journey lasts just under 3 hours with a return time of 10:15pm.
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The dress code is smart/casual.
Please note when making your booking, dietary requirements of Vegetarian/Vegan/Gluten Free/Pescatarian/Halal/Dairy Free/Diabetic can be selected from the ticket option menu using drop down selection button. Tickets are priced at £72pp and are for over 16’s only. Price includes train fare.
If you have further dietary requirements, please contact us in advance of booking at dwd@eastlancsrailway.co.uk
Our Red Rose Dining trains run on selected Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. The evening starts at Bury Bolton Street Station at 7:30pm and finishes at approximately 10:15pm.
Priced at £72 per head, with various dates from 1 March, 2024 (see menus).
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The Dining Train departs from, and returns to, Bury Bolton Street Station (BL9 0EY).
Every effort will be made to ensure that steam locomotives haul our dining services. However, should a steam locomotive be unavailable, the East Lancashire Railway reserves the right to substitute a diesel locomotive without prior notice. We reserve the right to suspend, reschedule or cancel services if operational circumstances or safety make this necessary.
We do not guarantee that the seats you book will be the seats you are given on the day. This is because our Dining Train Manager may have to move passengers around to allow us to accommodate those with limited mobility or large groups. However, we do guarantee those booked on a table for two, will be seated on a table for two. Those booked on a table for four, will be seated on a table for four. If you have booked two seats on a table of four, you will be seated next to each other, allowing both parties on the table to benefit from a window seat.
Please advise us if you have booked specific seats due to mobility or have arranged to be seated next to a booking under a different name.
Our evening diners are for ages 16+ (18+ on Tasters, Comedy and Premium), but children are most welcome on our day time diners, which include our Traditional ‘midweek’ Luncheons, Lancastrian Lunches and Festive Lunches (excludes Afternoon Teas). Child tickets are for children aged 3 to 12. A child under three can attend free of charge but they will not receive a meal or seat. They must be seated on an adult’s knee, as we cannot provide highchairs due to the layout of the carriages.
The East Lancashire Railway has a selection of reasonably priced drinks on board.
You can bring bottled wine or champagne on board, but there will be a corkage fee of £10.00 per bottle.
All of our Diners depart from Bury Bolton Street Station which has step free access to the platforms. However, we regret that our 1950’s coaches are unable to accommodate wheelchair passengers. We can provide a small ramp during boarding to aid those with limited mobility, but passengers will be required to walk to their seats. Please let us know when making your booking that you require priority seating near the door.
It is a sparkling Perry, 7.5% alc and can be changed for a fresh orange juice upon request.
No, dogs are not permitted on board, unless it is an assistance dog which you will need to notify us about beforehand.
Premium nights are black tie events. We encourage fancy dress for our Murder Mystery and Comedy themed dining trains. For all other evening dining experiences the dress code is Smart/Smart-Casual. For our Lancastrian Lunches the dress code is Smart-Casual, and for our Traditional (midweek) Luncheons and Afternoon Teas, the dress code is Casual.
Please let us know in advance so we can ensure our staff are aware of the occasion. You can also chose to purchase some of our dining add-ons which include champagne. These can be bought up to 7 days before the date of your experience.
No, E-Cigs and cigarettes are not permitted on board.
In-date Vouchers can be refunded in full, up to a month after the date of purchase, to the person who made the original booking only.
Bookings cancelled less than 3 days prior to the event will not be entitled to any refund.
Refunds may take up to 28 days to process.
The simple answer is ‘yes’ and unfortunately these costs have to be passed on. The cost to run a steam locomotive has risen considerably. This is primarily due to the volatility of coal supply – in terms of cost and availability. On the dining train set, a Diesel generator is used for power and heating, and it is no longer permitted to use tax-free fuel for this purpose. In addition, the ELR is facing significant increases in catering cost provision which directly affects the dining operation.
Our Red Rose Diner is £64.50 per head. This includes your meal and your train fare.
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