Is the royal train grinding to a halt?
Despite decades in service, the royal train has yet to reach the end of the line – at least according to those who built it
![Despite decades in service, the royal train has yet to reach the end of the line – at least according to those who built it](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02703/royal-train-1_2703540b.jpg)
By Joe Shute
In recent days, the Queen’s treasurer has done much to recast himself in the role of Jenny Agutter in The Railway Children, waving down the royal train with a pair of red bloomers to stop it in its tracks.
For, according to Sir Alan Reid, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, the train that has been a permanent fixture of regal life since the reign of Queen Victoria may soon be forced to come to a halt. In an admission to a committee of MPs on Monday, he warned the current rolling stock only has five to 10 years of service left. The prospect of replacing it, he said, would be a major decision, adding that “the figures are quite staggering