Y17 conference: Unique rail date as Flying Scotsman meets new Azuma loco

THE PAST, present and future of Yorkshire's east coast main line will converge in a unique rail event next month, it was announced today.
Flying Scotsman will be one of four locos travelling in tandemFlying Scotsman will be one of four locos travelling in tandem
Flying Scotsman will be one of four locos travelling in tandem

For the first time, four trains will travel on four tracks simultaneously, in the same direction, delegates to the UK’s biggest tourism conference , being staged in York, heard.

The locomotives will include the restored steam engine Flying Scotsman, running alongside Virgin Trains’ existing HST, Class 91 and the forthcoming Azuma electric engine.

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They will travel together for several miles north of York on April 23, in an event symbolising the progress on the county’s railways in the last century.

The tourism conference, Y17 - Yorkshire on Show, also heard that a new film showcasing the county would be released to cinema screens in the summer.

Cinemagoers in London, the north east and north west as well as Yorkshire will get a chance to see it.

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Rock stars the Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds, were among the guests at today’s event, at the York Theatre Royal. They announced earlier their support for Leeds in its bid to become the 2023 European Capital of Culture.

Sports stars including Britain’s most decorated Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey, used the event to release details of the teams at this year’s Tour de Yorkshire.

The 2017 race, from April 28-30, will see 36 men’s and women’s teams, with numbers equal for the first time. Dame Sarah’s newly launched team Storey Racing will be among them.

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “On stage here in York we’ve shown why Yorkshire is making such a big noise on the world stage right now. There has been standing ovations for the stars of sport, music and the arts who’ve come together to celebrate a record-breaking year for Yorkshire tourism. The buzz around the possibility of another record-breaking year is immense and I say encore!”