The topic of Named Trains comes up from time to time on the uk.railway newsgroup. This is an attempt to produce a Definitive List of Named Trains. It is based on the 1946 book compiled by the highly esteemed Mr Cecil J. Allen, Titled Trains of Great Britain, published by Ian Allan. The book went through several editions. This version of the list is taken from the 1986 edition, revised by Mr B. K. Cooper (ISBN 0 7110 1309 8).

Some of the names might be classed as "generic" in the sense that there were several of them, e.g. the Cambridge Buffet Expresses and the Trans-Pennines, and not all of the named trains necessarily carried headboards or were shown as named trains in the timetable.

Cecil J. Allen's List of Named Trains in Alphabetical Order

Aberdonian
Atlantic Coast Express
Belfast Boat Express
Birmingham Pullman
Blackpool & Fylde Coast Express
Blackpool Club Train*
Blue Pullmans (Western Region)
Bon Accord
Bournemouth Belle
Bournemouth Limited
Brighton Belle
Bristol Pullman
Bristolian
Broadsman
Caledonian
Cambrian Coast Express
Cambridge Buffet Expresses
Capitals Limited
Capitals United
Car-Carriers
Cathedrals Express
Channel Islands Boat Express
Cheltenham Spa Express
Cheltenham Flyer*
City Limited*
City-to-City Express
Clansman
Comet
Continentals (Eastern Region)
Cornish Riviera Express
Cornishman
Coronation
Coronation Scot
Corridor*
Day Continental
Devon Belle
Devonian
East Anglian
Eastern Region Executives and others
Elizabethan
Emerald Isle Express
Essex Coast Express
Executive
Fair Maid
Fast Belfast
Fenman
Fife Coast Express
Flying Scotsman
Golden Arrow
Golden Hind
Grampian
Granite City
Heart of Midlothian
Hebridean
Highlandman
Highwayman
Hook Continental
Hull Pullman
Inter-City
Irish Mails
Irish Mail (via Fishguard)
Irishman
Kentish Belle
Lakes Express
Lancastrian
Lewisman
Limited*
Liverpool Pullman
Llandudno Club Train
Manchester Club Trains
Manchester Pullman
Mancunian
Man of Kent
Manxman
Master Cutler
Mayflower
Merchant Venturer
Merseyside Express
Midday Scot
Midlander
Night Aberdonian
Night Ferry
Night Limited
Nightrider
Night Scot
Night Scotsman
Norfolk Coast Express
Norfolkman
North Briton
North Country Continental*
North Eastern
Northern Irishman
Northumbrian
Oxford Pullman
Paddy*
Palatine
Peak Express
Pembroke Coast Express
Pines Express
Ports-to-Ports Express*
Queen of Scots
Red Dragon
Red Rose
Robin Hood
Royal Duchy
Royal Highlander
Royal Scot
Royal Wessex
Scandinavian
Scarborough Flyer
Shakespeare Express
Sheffield Special
Silver Jubilee
South Wales Pullman
South Yorkshireman
Southern Belle
St Mungo
Sunny South Express
Talisman
Tyne-Tees Pullman
Thames-Clyde Express
Thames-Forth Express
Torbay Express
Trans-Pennines
Tynesider
Ulster Express
Waverley
West Coast Postal*
West Riding
West Riding Limited
White Rose
William Shakespeare
Windermere Club Train
Yorkshire Pullman
Yorkshireman

* Any name marked with an asterisk is reckoned by CJA to be an "unofficial title or nickname".

 

This is my own list of Named Trains that ran on British Railways (latterly British Rail) between nationalisation in 1948 and privatisation in the 1990s.

The following are taken from the 1961 timetable for the London Midland Region. Most of the trains ran in both directions between the stations listed.

The Aberdonian (London Kings Cross - Aberdeen)
The Birmingham Pullman (London Paddington - Birmingham Snow Hill)
The Caledonian (Glasgow Central - London Euston)
The Comet (London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly)
The Devonian (Bradford and Leeds - Torquay and Paignton)
The Elizabethan (London Kings Cross - Aberdeen)
The Flying Scotsman (London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley)
The Harrogate Pullman (London Kings Cross - Leeds Central + Bradford Exchange + presumably Harrogate somewhere along the way - Sundays Only!)
The Heart of Midlothian (London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley)
The Inter-City (London Paddington - Wolverhampton Low Level)
The Irish Mail (London Euston - Holyhead)
The Lakes Express (London - The Lake District**)
The Lancashire Pullman (London Euston - Blackpool)
The Lancastrian (London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly)
The Mancunian (Manchester Piccadilly - London Euston)
The Manxman (London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street)
The Master Cutler (Sheffield Victoria - London Kings Cross)
The Merseyside Express (Liverpool Lime Street - London Euston)
The Mid-Day Scot (London Euston - Glasgow Central)
The Midland Pullman (Manchester Central - London St Pancras)
The Night Scotsman (London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley)
The Northern Irishman (London Euston - Stranraer Harbour)
The Palatine (London St Pancras - Manchester Central)
The Pines Express (Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth West)
The Queen of Scots (London Kings Cross - Glasgow Queen Street)
The Red Rose (London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street)
The Robin Hood (Nottingham Midland - London St Pancras)
The Royal Highlander (London Euston - Inverness)
The Royal Scot (London Euston - Glasgow Central)
The Shamrock (Liverpool Lime Street - London Euston)
The Talisman (London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley)
The Thames-Clyde Express (London St Pancras - Glasgow St Enoch)
The Ulster Express (London Euston, Manchester Victoria and Leeds City to Heysham - three separate trains, not entirely clear if all three were named)
The Waverley (London St Pancras - Edinburgh Waverley)
The Welshman (London - North Wales*)
The West Riding (London Kings Cross - Leeds Central + Bradford Exchange)
The White Rose (London Kings Cross - Leeds Central + Bradford Exchange)
The Yorkshire Pullman (London Kings Cross - Leeds Central + Bradford Exchange)

* From Euston: portions for Portmadoc, Pwllheli and Llandudno
** From Euston: portions for Windermere and Workington via Keswick

 

Some other named trains from earlier and later British Railways timetables (thanks to various correspondents for their contributions):

The Atlantic Coast Express
The Bournemouth Belle
The Bradford Flyer (unofficial name)
The Brighton Belle
The Bristolian
The Britannia (Harwich Parkeston Quay - Manchester Piccadilly)
The Cambrian Coast Express
The Cathedrals Express
The Cheltenham Spa Express
The Clansman (London Euston - Inverness day service, via Birmingham)
The Cornishman (Aberdeen - Penzance)
The Cornish Riviera Express
The Eastbourne Belle (London Victoria to Eastbourne, summer Sundays only)
The Easterling (London Liverpool Street - Lowestoft/Yarmouth South Town via Beccles - may have been an unofficial name)
The Emerald Isle Express (London Euston (later Birmingham New Street) -
The Essex Continental (London Liverpool Street - Harwich Town)
The European (Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central - Harwich Parkeston Quay)
The Festival Express (London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly)
The Festival Rose (London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street, during period of Liverpool Garden Festival)
The Highland Chieftain (London Kings Cross - Inverness)
The Irish Mancunian (Manchester - Holyhead)
The John Peel (Lancaster - Euston, late 1980s)
The Loreley (Harwich Parkeston Quay - Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street)
The Mayflower
The Merchant Venturer
The Midland Pullman (Nottingham Midland - London St Pancras; also Leicester - London St Pancras according to some sources)
The Night Capitals (Kings Cross - Newcastle & Edinburgh)
The Norseman (London Kings Cross to Newcastle Tyne Commission Quay, in connection with sailings to Norway)
The North Briton
The North West Dane (Harwich - Blackpool North, late 1980s)
The Pembroke Coast Express
The Principality (Edinburgh Waverley - Cardiff Central)
The Red Dragon
The Royal Duchy
The Royal Wessex
The Sheffield Pullman (Sheffield Victoria - London Kings Cross via Retford)
The South Wales Pullman
The South Yorkshireman (London Marylebone - Sheffield Victoria and Bradford Exchange)
The Starlight Express (London Marylebone - Glasgow/Edinburgh, summer dated once-a-week overnight service, c. 1953-1960)
The Tees-Thames
The Tees-Tyne Pullman
The Torbay Express
The Tynesider

 

The 1990-91 BR timetable featured the following, some of which must have been quite short-lived (thanks to David Muxworthy for researching it):

The Armada (Plymouth - Newcastle)
The Dorset Scot (Poole - Edinburgh via Newcastle)
The Humber-Lincs (King's Cross - Cleethorpes)
The Devonian (Paignton - Leeds - Newcastle, i.e. extended)
The Merseyside Pullman (Euston - Liverpool)
The Devon Scot (Plymouth - Aberdeen via Carlisle)
The Cornish Scot (Penzance - Glasgow)
The Sussex Scot (Brighton - Glasgow)
The Wessex Scot (Poole - Glasgow)
The Welsh Dragon (Euston - Holyhead)
The Orcadian (Inverness - Thurso)
Hebridean Heritage (Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh)
The Lord of the Isles (Edinburgh - Oban and Edinburgh - Mallaig)
The Lochaber (Fort William - Mallaig)
Tyne Trader/Ayrshire Trader (Girvan - Newcastle)
The Borderer (Newcastle - Carlisle - Glasgow)
Galloway Enterprise/Tyne Enterprise (Stranraer - Newcastle)

A few freight trains also carried names, e.g.:

The Condor (meaning CONtainers DOor to DooR)
The Tartan Arrow (London - Glasgow)

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This page was last updated in December 2007. Comments on this site, or notice of any broken links, are always welcome: e-mail me.

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