STEAM TRAIN VISITING LONDON!

The train has started to take fare-paying passengers

The first new mainline steam engine to be built in Britain for nearly five decades is making its first long-distance passenger trip into London.

The train set off from Darlington and due to arrive in London King's Cross station at 1347 GMT.

Enthusiasts in Darlington raised £3m to build the Peppercorn class A1 Pacific locomotive, which has taken 19 years.

The train will be on display at London King's Cross station for about an hour after arrival.

Additional passengers will be picked up at York and the train will pass through stations including Newark, Peterborough and Potter's Bar before arriving in London.

The train will consist of 13 carriages, equating to about 500 tons, and will run at up to 75mph. It began taking fare-paying passengers on 31 January.

It is apple green, the colour carried by the first 30 Peppercorn class A1s.

Mark Allatt, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: "Tornado's first train to London is the opening of a new chapter in the story of a project that many said could never be completed.

"In 1990 a group was formed with a vision and the determination to make it succeed - to build and operate a Peppercorn class A1 Pacific steam locomotive for main line and preserved railway use.

"Nineteen years later, and thanks to that shared vision and determination, Tornado hauled her first passenger train on the Network Rail main line in front of the world's press and an estimated 10,000 people on 31st January 2009."

BBC NEWS REPORT.