RAIL buffs forked out £200 for a historic train ride — only to be told 'do part of the journey yourself'.

The Railway Touring Company, which specialises in memorable train journeys, has arranged for hundreds of people to travel on the iconic Flying Scotsman service on its maiden voyage after a ten-year renovation project.

Passengers paid between £95 and £204 for adult tickets or up to £533 for a family ticket and were invited to board at Manchester Victoria, Bolton, Preston or Blackburn and travel on the heritage train, hauled by the well-known steam locomotive, to Carlisle

However, they overlooked the fact that the line near Bolton will be closed on the big day — reported by The Bolton News on December 29.

When the oversight was pointed out to bosses, they decided that the sold-out service will be diverted via Wigan.

The firm has written to ticket holders telling them to make their own way to Wigan, and board the train there.

In a statement that did not include an apology to customers, a spokesman for the Railway Touring Company said: "We have written to and emailed all passengers who have booked to travel on the Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express on January 23 from Bolton regarding the change of route.

"We have arranged for a stop at Wigan North Western and are asking passengers who were scheduled to join the train at Bolton, to now join at Wigan North Western instead.

"If passengers are no longer able to travel due to the change in pick up for this train they have been asked to contact the office by January 15 and The Railway Touring Company will arrange to transfer their booking to a different tour or for a full refund of monies paid to The Railway Touring Company."

One option is for ticket holders to take a standard Northern Rail service from Bolton to Wigan.

However, the pacer train they would be likely to board would be a far cry from the luxury of the Flying Scotsman they had hoped to set foot on in Bolton, with its classic carriages and traditional buffet car.

In its pre-war heyday, the famous London-to-Edinburgh service that heralded the arrival of fast inter-city rail travel in the UK, included such luxuries as a ladies retiring room and an onboard hair salon.

The Flying Scotsman was back on track for the first time in a decade today after a specialist engineering firm based in Bury completed a £4.2m restoration project.

The locomotive successfully completed a test run to Heywood and will be the centrepiece of a series activities at the East Lancashire Railway station in Bolton Street, Bury, this weekend and next.