£4.5 million to restore the Flying Scotsman

The Flying Scotsman at the National Rail Museum in Shildon Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

It's been revealed it cost £4.5 million to restore 'Flying Scotsman' and return the iconic steam legend to the tracks.

In May 2004, the National Railway Museum purchased the locomotive for £2.3 million on behalf of the nation. Its decade long restoration has been one of the most complex and lengthy overhauls of its kind. The appeal was supported by a £1.8 million grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the generosity of the public.

The projected total cost was estimated in the region of £4.2m in Summer 2015. With the final stages of the restoration revealing that more remedial work than anticipated was needed to some parts of the locomotive, coupled with a tight deadline to meet the inaugural run date in February, the final cost rose to £4.5m.

Since its high profile return, the NRM says more than 200 thousand people will have seen Flying Scotsman at its York and Shildon sites and at heritage railway events, with many tens of thousands seeing it during February's triumphant inaugural run between London Kings Cross and York.