Fantasy on wheels: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin design train carriage

If the golden age of rail travel ever needed a contemporary encore, it might look something like Celia, a lavish new private dining and events carriage arriving on the British Pullman, A Belmond Train, early in this year’s northern summer.

Designed by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, the Oscar-winning Australian creative duo behind Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby and Elvis, Celia is not just a carriage but a full-blown theatrical fantasy on rails.

The British Pullman is a heritage day train running from London Victoria to destinations such as Bath, Oxford, Canterbury and the Kent countryside, using restored 1920s and 1930s Pullman carriages. It is operated by Belmond, the luxury hospitality group behind the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and a global portfolio of high-end hotels, cruises and trains.

Housed within an original 1932 Pullman carriage and accommodating just 12 guests, Celia will run on all routes and promises to be an intimate, cinematic escape that blurs the line between transport, performance space and private party.

The concept draws heavily on 1930s London: West End theatres, vintage cinema, Shakespearean mischief and the after-hours glamour of a city that once dressed for dinner and stayed out until dawn. “Celia” is a fictional muse dreamed up by Luhrmann: a West End-leading lady given her own Pullman carriage in 1932 after a career-defining performance as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Of course.

Inside the carriage there’s a cocktail bar and lounge, a private dining space, a pantry and kitchen, and enough flexibility for the room to morph from banquet hall to dance floor to performance venue as the journey unfolds. Heavy theatre curtains divide the space, opening and closing like scenes. Guests depart from London Victoria and can tailor both the onboard experience and off-train moments, with private chefs designing bespoke menus around seasonal British produce.

If all this sounds indulgent, that’s rather the point. The exclusive hire of Celia starts from £15,000 (about $30,000), placing it squarely in the realm of milestone celebrations or once-in-a-lifetime gatherings. (That price includes transfers within Greater London.)

As Luhrmann puts it, it’s a “magical mystery tour” – a place for food, music, wine, laughter and performance, drifting through the countryside as though you’ve wandered into Shakespeare’s forest.

The craftsmanship will be as meticulous as the storytelling. Martin worked with an all-British roster of artisans, artists and suppliers. Motifs inspired by British flora weave through – even the loo will be an enchanted nook, decorated with mosaics and hand-painted ceilings.

Celia joins a growing tradition of designers and artists reimagining railway carriages as immersive works of art. Wes Anderson famously brought his symmetrical, pastel-toned whimsy to the British Pullman with Cygnus, a decorated 1950s carriage that felt like stepping into one of his films. Christian Lacroix injected colour and couture flair into France’s SNCF TGV interiors, while Philippe Starck applied his sleek modernism to Eurostar lounges in Paris and London.

The rebirth of the Orient Express has also drawn serious creative firepower, with ateliers Rinck, Jouffre and the Tapestry Manufacture of Burgundy restoring 1920s marquetry, and street artist JR designed a striking contemporary carriage for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

And in Australia, Arrente artist Chantelle Mulladad brought vibrant colour and cultural storytelling to three carriages of The Ghan.

Meanwhile, after a rocky launch plagued by faulty door locks in its overhauled ex-Irish Mk 3 coaches as well as water supply issues and kitchen failures, the England-and-Wales-focused train, Belmond Britannic Explorer is set to ride again.

After taking the luxury train out of service in late 2025 for repairs, it is scheduled to run its full 2026 season starting in April with bookings now open.

Chef Simon Rogan has also overhauled the kitchen operations after admitting the initial menus were not feasible.

See belmond.com