LONDON — The operator of the seasonal steam excursion known as the “Harry Potter train” has lost a court bid to block actions by British regulators, leaving in doubt the future of its operation of the celebrated train in the Scottish Highlands.
West Coast Railways operates the train officially known as The Jacobite, which appears as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. The company had challenged Britain’s Office of Rail and Road over its requirement that the trains should have a central, automatic door-locking system on its railcars [see “Scotland’s famed ‘Harry Potter’ steam train faces regulatory threat,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 4, 2023], saying the conversion could cost £7 million ($8 million) — wiping out most of its profits for a decade.
But a High Court judge dismissed the case, saying the Office of Rail and Road had taken a “justifiable” approeach and that it was “common sense” that the automatic locking system would be safer than one “dependent on no more than an assumption by the guard that the stewards have locked the doors,” the BBC reports.
Scotland’s The Herald newspaper notes that the judge’s ruling said the ORR’s upper estimate to outfit four trains with central locking was just under £1.4 million and that a £10 increase in the fare — which has a current average ticket price of £46.58, or about $59.15 — would generate an additional £1 million annually.
WCR commercial manager James Shuttleworth told the BBC the company will “reflect and consider options to enable us to continue running safe services enjoyed by so many visitors from the UK and around the world, upon which local businesses along our route rely. We are committed to working with the ORR to find a long-term solution which safeguards the future of heritage services.”
An ORR representative said the agency welcomed the ruling and noted that other heritage operators “have made the necessary investment to install central door locking … It remains open to the West Coast Railway Company Limited to do the same.”
Unchecked government bureaucracy at its worst. They are destroying historical accuracy for a dubious “safety improvement.”
Did they really ever hand any accidents related too those doors?
There is no doorhandle inside of the carrige. Passengers have to lower the window first and open the door from the outside
7 million pounds vs 1.4 million pounds is a massive difference in cost estimates. I wonder how each side came up with those numbers. Also, the previous article indicates that “most of its competitors in the charter-train market have already modified their cars or agreed a plan to do so,” which should give them a basis for a cost estimate.
Obviously the British Government wants to shut the system down. How many businesses would stay in operation if they were forced to spend their last 10 years of profits for upgrade. After spending that kind of money on upgrades, no one knows if the business will make any return in the future.
If I owned this business I’d shut it down. Wonder how many employees would be looking for jobs. And what about all the secondary jobs created because of this operation. How many of those businesses depend this operation to make them a profit.
The local businesses Mr. Shuttleworth mentions should apply to the court for replacement by the government of any revenue lost if WCR shuts down The Hogwarts Express…