Flying Scotsman no longer coming to Norwich after breaking down

The Flying Scotsman locomotive will not be coming to Norwich this evening after breaking down in Peterborough.

The world famous locomotive was due to arrive at Norwich station at 7pm following the Cathedrals Express dinner service from Ely.

But at Peterborough it developed a fault with its hot axel box on the right hand driving wheel meaning it could no longer continue its journey.

The Cathedrals Express will be hauled instead by a vintage diesel locomotive into Norwich this evening.

The Steam Dreams Rail Co., which runs the service, said: 'Steam locomotives need 24 hours preparation so a failure like this during the day leaves us no choice but to run with diesel as the extent of the hotbox cannot be assessed until the locomotive has returned to a depot.

'We are extremely sorry for the disappointment that this will cause to both our passengers and onlookers and we will do our utmost to ensure that all passengers have the most enjoyable trip possible on our vintage train.'

This is only the second time the Flying Scotsman has had technical difficulties since its return in January 2016.

It is not clear if the locomotive will be fixed in time for Saturday, when it is scheduled to travel between Norwich and Ipswich and then Norwich and London.

Organisers have confirmed an alternative steam locomotive is being organised.

In May last year the it was due to run a special excursion train from Ely to Norwich and back.

However, the trip was called off, amid fears of a repeat of the scenes from February last year, when about 60 people endangered their lives by getting close to the tracks as the engine steamed through St Neots, in Cambridgeshire.