Branson pledges cash to save the Flying Scotsman

Published on Sunday 28 March 2004 00:00

SIR Richard Branson has promised to intervene with a cash donation to save the Flying Scotsman from leaving Britain.

Branson, 53, has pledged a substantial sum to the National Railway Museum in York to help them raise enough money to secure the world’s most famous train. To keep the bid secret from competitors, Branson refused to disclose the exact sum he had promised, but the tycoon said his contribution would ensure it was not sold overseas. Would-be buyers have until Friday to submit a sealed bid for the train.

The owner of the Virgin empire said his donation would "bridge any financial gap to make sure this bid is secured".

The locomotive, the first steam engine to reach 100mph and the first to travel non-stop from Edinburgh to London, has attracted worldwide interest.

The train is expected to reach more than 1m and several foreign railway museums as well as private American investors are expected to make bids.

Branson, who said he would do everything he could to prevent the train from leaving the country, added that he hoped the train’s owners would accept the offer before the bidding process goes ahead.

He said: "If they insist on going through with the sale and it ends up in foreign hands, we will make it very hard for the new owner to get an export licence.

"We have already lost Concorde from our skies. We must not lose another British engineering legend."

The Doncaster-built steam engine was put up for sale last month by its private owners, Flying Scotsman Plc. The company, which is 1.5m in debt, announced the sale after plans to build a visitor centre at Edinburgh’s Waverley station fell through.

Built in 1923 for a cost of 7,944, the Flying Scotsman’s London-Edinburgh route was the longest non-stop run in the world. Other trains had to stop to change the crews who fed coal into the engines, but the Scotsman had a unique design that allowed crews to change over en route. The National Railway Museum plans to use the train for heritage trips.