THE funeral train which transported Churchill to his final resting place is to feature in national commemorations to the statesman.

The Battle of Britain locomotive – name in honour of the wartime Prime Minister – is to be reunited with the humble parcel van that carried his coffin on Friday (January 30).

The locomotive and goods van have both been restored at the National Railway Museum in Shildon and will go on display at the railway museum in York in time for national commemorative events.

It will be the first time the funeral train has been reunited.

At 8am on Friday, the locomotive and goods van will be linked up with the luxurious Pullman carriage Lydia, which transported the Churchill family and honoured guests on the last ever steam-hauled state funeral.

Present at the event will be teams of staff, volunteers and trainees from the Shildon centre who have worked to get the star vehicles ready for their appearance.

To the sounds of a train whistle and a chamber choir, the event will kick off UK-wide commemorations.

Churchill was the only statesman to be given a state funeral in the 20th century and on that historic occasion in 1965 thousands of people stood at station platforms to see him on his solemn last journey.

The display includes archive news footage of the funeral, which saw millions more worldwide clustered around their TV sets to witness the procession and personal audio accounts from those with a special connection to that memorable day.

Until the carriages were chosen to take Winston Churchill on his final farewell journey, they were just standard rolling stock; the baggage van had been used to carry everyday goods such as vegetables and newspapers.

The reunification of the train marks the culmination of a long journey for the Friends of the National Railway Museum who launched an appeal back in January 2011 to raise the money to give the steam icon a new look in time for the 50th anniversary year of the wartime leader’s death. They supported the restoration work on both the locomotive Winston Churchill and the baggage van S2464S which carried the coffin.

Churchill’s Final Journey runs from January 30 until May 3.