Luxury Carnforth train provides perfect setting for romantic wedding proposal

Meanwhile, just a few seats away in the same ornately-decorated 1930s-style vintage carriage, another couple were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.

Other passengers stared in astonishment as Suraj Daryanani, 33, got down on one knee to pop the question to surprised girlfriend Namrata Nasra.

Manager Paul Cookson and staff on the luxury train pulled out all the stops to help Suraj Daryanani, 33, get on the right tracks for marriage as he got down on one knee to pop the question.

Other passengers clapped and cheered when beaming Namrata Nasra said “Yes” and Suraj slid an engagement ring onto her finger.

Businessman Suraj had sworn train staff to secrecy about his romantic plans on the slap-up “Spirit of Lunch” trip from Birmingham.

Then as the 1930s Pullman-style train pulled out the station – which is where they first met a couple of years ago – he went down on one knee in the corridor to ask Namrata to marry him.

And as champagne flowed, Northern Belle staff presented the couple with a huge bunch of flowers and a big celebration cake.

Train manager Paul Cookson said: “We had been working with Suraj for several weeks to make sure everything went like clockwork on the day and we’re delighted that Namrata said ‘Yes’.”

But Suraj, a property investor from Singapore, admitted: “I was extremely nervous about proposing in front of all the other passengers.

“Everybody on the Northern Belle staff was great though. I can’t thank them enough for ensuring everything ran smoothly.”

Mr Cookson added: “The Northern Belle was really something of a love train on that trip. For just down the corridor from Suraj and Namrata, another couple were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.”

The Northern Belle, once part of the iconic Orient Express train, was described by actor Bill Nighy on Channel 5’s The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel”.

And last year readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine voted it number nine in a list of the world’s most luxurious trains, pipping famous rivals like Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer and India’s Maharaja Express. It was the only British train to make the top 10.