“We felt commuters have had a rough ride recently, so we wanted to sprinkle some Christmas magic on the rails and do something that reminded people just how wonderful train travel can be when you have the luxury of time,” said Gary Franklin, the managing director of Trains & Cruises Belmond.

In case you didn’t get the very subtle reference Gary was making there, trains from Ashford International to Victoria are often run by Southern Rail. Southern trains have been consistently delayed or cancelled in recent months as staff strike over safety concerns – meaning that the passengers who got to board the Belmond Pullman today have probably had their fair share of rubbish journeys.

Here’s hoping we’ll see the Pullman at our own station soon...

These commuters just got surprised with the best journey to work ever