Hundreds of Leighton Buzzard Railway Santa Special tickets snapped up within 24 hours of release

Santa’s Steam Specials will begin on Saturday, December 5 and trains will operate over a total of 11 days, finishing on Christmas Eve.

In addition, the popular Mince Pie Specials will run on Sunday and Monday December 27 and 28, but the After Dark trains will unfortunately be unable to operate in 2020.

To partly compensate, from Saturday 19 to Wednesday December 23 a 4.30pm departure will take place in the week leading up to Christmas to offer an experience once the sun has set.

Due to a high level of demand and the reduced capacity available this year, priority was given to the railway’s newsletter subscribers, and more than 400 spaces were filled in the first 24 hours alone, representing 10% of the total capacity for December. Fares have been held at 2019 prices.

To ensure safety for all customers, the railway will be using both sets of its carriages (all with individual compartments to separate family groups and social bubbles), with one set being fully cleaned between departures while the other set makes the 25-minute round trip.

Mince pies and punch will be served on the train, and after the journey, customers will be led to see Santa at intervals in a one-way system to enable social distancing, with all children aged 12 and under receiving a present. A ‘book with confidence’ policy is in place should a change in Government policy mean we are unable to operate trains.

Full details of all the railway’s remaining operating days in 2020, including the Santa Specials and Mince Pie Specials, as well as fee-free booking can be found at http://www.buzzrail.uk.