A luxury train company has revealed plans for a new carriage designed by a beloved Oscar-nominated director. Belmond is working with Baz Luhrmann to create a carriage for its original 1932 British Pullman train.
Luhrmann is a director best known for William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Great Gatsby (2013), and Elvis (2022). He is the most commercially successful Australian director and is regarded by some as a contemporary auteur for his style and deep involvement in all his work. The director is teaming up with long-term collaborator Catherine Martin, an acclaimed costume and production designer who has been instrumental in shaping the distinctive visual style of all his films. The new carriage on the British Pullman, Celia, features its own cocktail bar, lounge, dining and entertainment area for up to 12 guests. The carriage is a celebration of London’s 1930s West End theatre scene, vintage cinema, and a homage to Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, brought to life through British craftsmanship.
Baz Luhrmann said: “For Catherine and I, creating Celia was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, allowing us to push the boundaries of creativity, luxury, and uniqueness.
“Stepping inside the carriage is like being transported into another world, and one in which guests are invited to become part of the story. Celia, at its heart, is a magical mystery tour – a travelling dining experience for friends or an intimate celebration, filled with food, music, wine, laughter, and performance.
“All of this unfolds as you drift through the countryside, feeling as though you’ve stepped inside A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s a playful and exceptionally unique way to explore the UK, at your own pace and according to your own rhythm and story.
Catherine Martin said: “Celia gives travellers the rare opportunity to inhabit the nostalgia of another era. The carriage offers the ultimate luxury—the time and space to truly connect with the journey itself – and it allows the mind to decelerate, opening the possibility of deeper connection not only to oneself and to others, but also to new cultures, new perspectives, and different ways of seeing the world.
“Onboard, I imagine people eating, dancing and falling in love, taking photographs, celebrating life’s great moments and adventures—all within a world that offers a pause from the chaos of everyday life. Celia offers a moment of respite. A moment of celebration. A small, luminous bubble of light and love.”
Prices for the exclusive use of the Celia carriage aboard the British Pullman, A Belmond Train, start from £15,000 and include transfers within Greater London.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
