LNER Hosts ‘The Midday Train’ Book Club with Matt Haig
LNER has hosted a unique on-train experience with multi-million bestselling author Matt Haig for a one-off book club event attended by a reading group. Timed to coincide with the publication of Haig’s new novel, THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN, this on-train book club also celebrates The National Year of Reading, a year-long initiative which invites the nation to (re)discover the joy of reading.
An LNER First Class Azuma carriage provided the apt setting for the special experience, where bestselling author chatted with the group about his new book, ‘The Midnight Train’ - a magical time-travelling love story from the world of his global bestselling phenomenon, ‘The Midnight Library’. The literature fans from the Tyneside-based book club, A Novel Bunch, enjoyed tea, coffee and cake at 125-mph as they discussed the twists and turns of the newly released novel.
The event has taken place during the National Year of Reading, where LNER and hundreds of other organisations have pledged to support the biggest campaign in a generation designed to help people (re)kindle a love of reading and champion new and diverse ways of connecting reading with everyday life. Research commissioned by LNER revealed that 12 per cent of adults often read or listen to audio books or podcasts while travelling by train. Of those surveyed, 45 per cent also chose a physical book.
Colette Casey, Customer Experience Director, at LNER said: “With the summer holiday season fast approaching, and the National Year of Reading in full swing, now is the time when many of our customers will be picking their next read to pack for their summer holiday. A journey on a train offers the freedom to travel your own way, whether that is to relax, work or pick up a good book. It’s a perfect place to enjoy some uninterrupted time as the world passes by. We hope that working with authors like Matt Haig will help to inspire more people of all ages about the joy that reading can bring all year round!”
Matt Haig said: “I have travelled this train route many times, so it is quite fitting to be hosting a book club on an LNER train for a novel titled The Midnight Train! I’ve visited many places on the route, including Edinburgh, Newark and London as part of my book tour, so the opportunity to meet fellow literature lovers has been a real highlight!”
Catherine Hudson, from book club A Novel Bunch, said: “The unique chance to hear directly from Matt Haig about his new book on an actual train journey has been unmissable. The rhythm of a train journey, the sense of being in motion and in conversation at the same time, feels like exactly the right environment for the kind of thoughtful, unhurried discussion we love as a club.”
LNER has also been surprising book lovers by hiding a limited number of signed copies of The Midnight Train in stations along its routes, with clues to their locations being posted through the LNER social channels.
Notes to editors
About Matt Haig
Matt Haig writes both fiction and non-fiction. This includes the novels The Humans, How to Stop Time and The Midnight Library, which has sold almost fifteen million copies. He has also written several children’s books including A Boy Called Christmas, which became a major feature film. His non-fiction works include Reasons to Stay Alive, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, and The Comfort Book. His most recent fiction, The Life Impossible, was a Sunday Times and a New York Times bestseller. His work has been translated into over fifty languages. The Midnight Library: Graphic Novel, illustrated by Fred Fordham, will be published by Canongate on 8 October 2026.
About The National Year of Reading
The National Year of Reading is the biggest campaign in a generation designed to inspire everyone to discover a passion for reading and embed it into our everyday lives. A Department for Education initiative supported by the National Literacy Trust, the National Year of Reading is delivered by nine leading literacy sector charities, and supported by funders, sponsors and pledge partners. This unique collaboration brings national scale and local expertise, connecting education, culture and communities across the UK. The campaign asks the nation to Go All In on their passions and interests for 2026 and discover how reading in any format can unlock the things they already love – be that music, football, baking, family-time, sci-fi, or…anything. Put simply: if you’re into it, read into it. The National Year of Reading is fuelled by organisations who believe in the power of reading and are committed to investing in the solutions to create change. The National Year of Reading aims to sign-up 100,000 volunteers, get one million more people actively using libraries, and encourage millions more to read regularly.