The Hogwarts Express carries students from London to Hogwarts in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
The train leaves from the magical Platform 9¾ at London’s King’s Cross railway station. Students usually board on 1 September for the new school year, and the journey introduces important relationships and recurring scenes in the books. Harry first travels on the train in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Hogwarts Express is a red steam locomotive identified in the story as locomotive 5972, named Olton Hall. Its route and magical access distinguish it from ordinary railway services. The train’s exact travel time is not consistently stated, so questions about a precise journey length can have less certain answers.
The name is sometimes confused with the Knight Bus, which transports stranded witches and wizards by road, or with the boats that first-year students take across the lake to Hogwarts. Those are separate forms of magical transport.