THE Brighton Belle is one of the most famous electric trains in the country.

The train used for the service was originally a locomotive-hauled train named the Southern Belle.

The new train became known as the Brighton Belle in June 1934, an electric powered train that was developed as part of Southern Railway’s mass electrification programme in 1931.

The original steam train is pictured at Brighton Station in the 1920s, before the transformation.

The Belle, which offered passengers a high end dining experience, was last used commercially 46 years ago.

It is currently being restored by The 5BEL Trust, which is aiming to carry out the train’s first few test runs later this year once the work is complete.

The restoration project began nine years ago and the total cost of the work is estimated to be in the region of £6 million.

The train is thought to have been the first electric intercity train to carry passengers onboard.

It used to travel between London and Brighton, making three trips a day around the South Coast, before the service came to a temporary halt during the Second World War.

Over the years, the train’s carriages have undergone other restoration projects before The 5BEL Trust initiated the latest effort to bring the train back to its former glory.

One of the photographs in our archive shows one of the Belle’s carriages being restored at Brighton Station railway sheds in the late 1980s.

Former Brighton Belle guard John Hambridge is pictured at Brighton Station in 1991.

The Evening Argus even had its own carriage named after it, which is pictured in 1991. A mystery mannequin on the train is also shown above.

Do you know the story behind it being found on the train?