THE world-famous Flying Scotsman will make a historic return to Scotland this year – but tickets will cost up to £999, and part of the journey will be powered by fuel rather than steam.

The locomotive will return to Inverness via Edinburgh in May for the second time in its 96-year history, but this time organisers are opting for longer tours over short trips.

First-class passengers will have to pay up to £999 for the experience which includes champagne, cakes and three nights in a four-star hotel in Inverness.

Whereas premium passengers, who will receive free tea and coffee and be put up at a Holiday Inn Express, will pay £699 each.

A spokeswoman for organisers The Steam Dreams Rail Co said the price reflected the extra cost of having two locomotives, with the trip part of a nine-day tour from London.

Last year, Flying Scotsman ran trips from Edinburgh over the Forth Bridge and round Fife for £225 for first-class passengers and £79 in premium standard.

Excursions during the trip will cost extra and the return journey will be hauled by a diesel engine.

The owner of The Steam Dreams Rail Co, David Buck, said: “Flying Scotsman has not been to Inverness in recent history, and to experience the two locomotives performing at full power over this steeply-graded railway will be a great prospect for all lovers of steam.

“It is the first time we have given passengers from Scotland an opportunity to join part of one of our nine-day tours.”

The visit will be the Flying Scotsman’s fourth consecutive annual foray north of the border, with previous excursions having been on the Borders Railway.

It was designed by Edinburgh-born Sir Nigel Gresley to haul the same-named Edinburgh-London express on the east coast main line, and was the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph, in 1934, and set a record for the longest non-stop run, of 422 miles, in Australia in 1989.

The engine was restored at a cost of more than £4 million by the National Railway Museum and further Flying Scotsman trips are expected to be announced shortly by the museum.

May’s tour will see the engine jointly haul the train with Mayflower, a steam locomotive built in 1948. Mayflower will also run separate trips from Inverness during the tour to Wick and Thurso, and Kyle of Lochalsh, at extra cost.