All aboard the Hogwarts Express!
Harry Potter fans taking the Warner Bros. Studio tour in Hertfordshire, England can now experience the original Hogwarts Express steam engine, reports The Independent.
Oh and you embark and disembark from a recreation of the iconic Platform 9 ¾.
Warner Bros. announced that it will undergo a 20,000-foot expansion to make room for the train and platform. The original steam locomotive used for the film, the Olton Hall, will be returned to the studio to be put on display. According to reports, visitors will be able to walk along the train’s adjoining carriage and sit in the interior carriage set that was used during filming. The expanded tour will start taking visitors on March 19.
Despite the last Harry Potter film coming out in 2011 and the last book released in 2007, Pottermania remains strong around the world. In July last year, Warner Bros. Entertainment created the Harry Potter Global Franchise Development (HPGFD) team, based in both London and Burbank, that was tasked with developing and executing a “develop and execute a high-level strategic vision for the Harry Potter brand,” in collaboration with author J.K. Rowling.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction helped Universal Studios Japan to record visitor numbers last year, with an expansion underway for Universal Studios Florida. Additionally there’s a studio tour of London, a West End play, and a London hotel opening Potter-themed rooms.
Harry Potter spin-off trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is also due over the coming years. Warner Bros. has said the David Yates-directed first installment would hit theaters on Nov. 18, 2016. The second part follows in Nov. 2018, and the third installment in Nov. 2020.
