The Midland Pullman was the name of a former express passenger train service. It operated on British Railways’ old Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and Manchester Central. The line also went via Leicester and Millers Dale.
Then, in July 1960 the Midland Pullman underwent a relaunch as a luxury service that was completely first-class. It used two new Blue Pullman six-car diesel-electric units, named after their new Nanking blue livery. The service aimed to cover the high end of the Manchester-London business market. This was due to service disruptions on the West Coast Main Line during electrification. The train could travel at 90 miles per hour. It made the journey from London to Manchester in a record 3 hours 15 minutes. In fact, the best time between the two cities immediately prior to this had been 3 hours 50 minutes. The Midland Pullman ran every weekday, up to London in the morning and down to Manchester in the evening. It had two kitchens, and each seat received a full meal service.
Commentators praised the speed and smoothness of the journey and the luxury of the trains.
Withdrawal of the service occurred in 1966 when the Manchester Pullman replaced it. The new service ran on electric, not diesel. It ran from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston via the newly electrified West Coast Main Line. It had a reduced journey time of 2 hours 30 minutes. This marked the end of the Midland line as a direct route for Manchester-London traffic. The two units were eventually transferred to the Western Region to work alongside the similar Western Pullman units.
