A glowing steam train returns to the Epping Ongar Railway

A steam train covered in lights will return to the Epping Ongar railway creating a magical ride through the countryside.

This is Lights Express – a chance to ride behind a steam train that is not just decorated inside and out for the festive season but lights up the countryside as it passes through the woods and fields.

A trip inside a steam train is always a delight, but there’s something magical about to arrive, as the crowd waits at Ongar station. A toot in the distance and the familiar chug chug sound of a steam engine in the distance as the glowing leviathan approaches.

The carriages are covered in lights, and even the locomotive is a Tron-esque futuristic light show as it glides past.

The real show is to come though, for the railway runs through woods, and what better than to have coloured lights on the outside of the train lighting up all the winter trees as the train chugs past.

Tickets cost £20 per person and are on sale now from here.

The Lights Express runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 17th November 2023 to 7th January 2024.

Getting to the Epping Ongar Railway

The trains depart from Ongar, and the easiest way to get there is by Central line train to Epping, and then catch the 420 bus from outside the tube station which takes about half-an-hour to get to Ongar.

(and back again afterwards)

The buses are roughly every half-hour – and it’s not as TfL service so you pay when you get on board. Be aware that the last bus back home leaves Ongar at 7:55pm on Fridays, and at 6:45pm at weekends, so you’ll want to book the earlier of the two train rides if you need to catch the bus home at weekends.

Or you can park in the nearby car parks.

While you’re at Ongar though, head to the very end of the railway and look for a sign with the number zero on it. That’s the milepost from which all distances on the London Underground are measured. From the time that this was part of the Central line, and still in use for mileage purposes today.