A £3 MILLION steam locomotive built in Darlington will make history today as it becomes the first to run from London's Kings Cross station for more than 40 years.

The Peppercorn class A1 60163 Tornado is the first new steam locomotive to be built in Britain for almost 50 years.

The engine is the result of an 18-year project to build the steam locomotive and return it to main line rail service and was paid for with money raised by railway enthusiasts.

Today it will haul the Yorkshire Pullman train of 13 passenger carriages from the London station to York at 9.18am, before returning later in the day.

Tornado was built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust at its site in Darlington and was based on the original designs of Arthur Peppercorn, the last chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.

It was unveiled by Mr Peppercorn's widow, Dorothy Mather, at an official ceremony in Darlington in August last year.

The engine was later painted in the distinctive apple green colour worn by the first 30 Peppercorn class A1s to be built, before going on display at the National Railway Museum, in York.

It embarked on its maiden mainline passenger journey, from York to Newcastle, on January 31 this year, to cheers from huge crowds.

Mark Allatt, chairman of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: "Tornado's first train from London's Kings Cross station is the opening of a new chapter in the story of a project that many said could never be completed.

"In 1990 a group was formed with a vision and the determination to make it succeed - to build and operate a Peppercorn class A1 Pacific steam locomotive for main line and preserved railway use.

"Nineteen years later, and thanks to that shared vision and determination, Tornado will haul her first passenger train north from Kings Cross to York on East Coast Main Line, the route on which the Peppercorn class A1s became such a familiar sight throughout the 1950s and early 1960s."

The trust has launched a scheme to raise a further 832,000 through public donations and sponsorship in order to keep the train running.