By Routemaster to the Lost Village of Imber

Our last visit to Imber for the Imberbus event was back in 2024, and since then we’ve been itching to return. With the support of our friends at GB Railfreight and Hastings Diesels Ltd, we are delighted to announce that it’s finally happening! Hidden from view on Salisbury Plain, the village of Imber is no longer inhabited as the residents were evicted just before Christmas 1943 by the MoD, in order to step up army training in advance of D-Day. The villagers were promised that their village would be returned to them after the war but this was not to be and over seventy-five years on it is still uninhabited, much of it having been destroyed. It remains in use for army training purposes but the connecting road over the Plain is open to the public on a very limited number of occasions each year. Imberbus is an unusual event by any standards. Since 2009, on just one day a year, an intensive service of London Routemaster Buses has operated between Warminster and Imber, continuing to remote spots such as New Zealand Farm and the curiously-named Brazen Bottom. The annual event has raised many thousands of pounds for the British Legion and for the upkeep of Imber Church, one of the very few buildings to survive intact. The event has grown and the 2024 running hosted up to 40 buses in operation, wit thousands of visitors carried and more tens of thousands raised for charity. As we did in 2024, we will be using the Hastings DEMU 1001. This means we will have a buffet car onboard as well as providing excellent capacity to what is sure to be a popular railtour. Our special train will run from Tonbridge, pausing to pickup passengers at South Croydon and London Waterloo before heading west calling at Woking and Basingstoke en-route to Warminster via Salisbury. On the way home we take a slightly longer route, travelling via Romsey, Southampton and Winchester before our first set down at Basingstoke. An Imberbus rover ticket is included in your fare so you can travel to each of the Imberbus destinations aboard your choice of Routemasters – old and new, long and short, red and green! You can access parts of Imber itself, and the church will be open. Click HERE to visit the Imberbus website and learn more about the event and its history. Timings now confirmed! StationDepartArrive Tonbridge07.3021.13 South Croydon08.1520.26 London Waterloo09.3719.30 Woking10.0919.02 Basingstoke10.4918.38 There is no First Class Dining available on this train. ClassFareAvailability Standard £139Good Standard Junior£119Good First Class Non Dining£179Very Limited Book Now