Flying Scotsman in Shropshire: Severn Valley Railway website crashes under 'incredible' demand for tickets
The Severn Valley Railway website crashed this morning due to the volume of people trying to buy tickets to see the Flying Scotsman, with online sales sold out by 1pm.
Tickets to ride behind the historic engine were due to go on sale at 9am, but more than an hour before users were reporting problems getting on the site.
Anyone trying to visit the website was greeted with an error message.
Despite this by 1pm over half of the 7,000 tickets had been sold.
Tickets to see the Flying Scotsman can now only be bought by phone or at its offices in Kidderminster.
Nick Ralls, the SVR's General Manager described the demand as "incredible."
On the Severn Valley Railway's official facebook page, a statement has been put out, which says: "We're currently experiencing some issues with our website due to the volume of people trying to access tickets for our Pacific Power event.
"We are working to rectify the problem and the website should be fixed soon.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your patience."
A further statement from SVR said: "Due to such high demand, Pacific Power tickets will be available shortly.
"We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."
The Severn Valley Railway is due to be one of the first heritage lines in the country to host the Flying Scotsman following its £4.2 million renovation.
The locomotive will be the star attraction at the SVR's Autumn Steam Gala in September 22 to 25.
