Blue Pullman: The Train From the Future That Britain Scrapped

On 4 July 1960, a train painted Nanking Blue left Manchester Central for London. Every seat was first class and reserved, every table had its own lamp, and meals were served at every seat. The British Transport Commission said its new trains would bring "a fresh conception of main-line railway passenger travel to Britain", and described them as the first trains in Britain to be fully air-conditioned. Five Blue Pullmans were built. In less than thirteen years, all five had been withdrawn, and not one was preserved. Yet much of what they offered passengers soon became ordinary. This is the story of Britain's 1960 train of tomorrow: the paper that started it, the design arguments and union negotiations behind it, the rough ride that was never fully cured, the 1963 Knowle and Dorridge accident on one of its services (involving a substitute train, not a Blue Pullman), the electrification that took away two of its routes, and how British Railways struggled to keep five special trains busy. What happened to the train Britain was shown in 1960? And why does the Midland Pullman name still run today, on a different train? Sources include the British Transport Commission's 1960 press release, the Ministry of Transport accident report (1964), National Archives catalogue records, British Transport Films, and Rail magazine's reporting on British Railways files. Some records, including a 1969 file on withdrawing the trains, have not been examined, and the film says so where it matters.