In 1926 a new all first
class Pullman train service, the ‘Flèche d’Or’, was
introduced between Calais and Paris. Connecting ferry
services and trains from Dover to London were run by
the Southern Railway,
and after a year or so it decided to introduce a similar
all first class Pullman service on the English side,
with a new luxury ferry making the sea link.
On 15 May 1929 the new ‘Golden Arrow’
/ ‘Flèche d’Or’ service began. The trains left both
capitals at 11:00 am and the ‘Golden Arrow’ on the English
side usually consisted of 10 Pullman cars, pulled by
one of the Southern Railway’s new ‘Lord Nelson’ class
express locomotives. The run to Dover took 98 minutes
and the crossing to Calais was made on board the new
luxury ferry the ‘Canterbury’.
Unfortunately the early 1930’s was
not the best period for the running of a first class
only, luxury train in Britain, and the ‘Golden Arrow’
soon included ordinary first and second class coaches
in its formation as the need for Pullmans gradually
declined. The service was abandoned in September 1939
with the outbreak of World War 2.
On 15 April 1946 the ‘Golden Arrow’
resumed service and was again an all Pullman formation
but this time with first and second class cars. The
train was formed with pre-war Pullmans which had been
stored during the war but in 1951, to coincide with
the Festival of Britain Exhibition in London, a new
set of Pullman cars was built.
In the early 1950’s the timing and
route of the ‘Golden Arrow’ was changed, it now left
London Victoria at 2:00 pm and ran to Folkestone Harbour
rather than Dover on the outward journey, with the return
service still working from Dover.
In May 1960 the train reverted to Dover
as it Channel port for both outward and return journeys,
and went back to its morning departure time from London.
Ordinary non-Pullman coaches appeared in the formation
once again, but normally not more than two. In 1961
the remaining sections of line to the Kent Coast were
electrified and the train was now hauled by new electric
locomotives.
The rapid expansion during the 1960’s
of private motoring and the introduction of new car
ferry ships and hovercraft across the Channel, plus
the expansion of air services between London and Paris,
led to a decline in use. The final service of the ‘Golden
Arrow’ ran on 30th September 1972. Some of the Pullman
cars that once ran on the ‘Golden Arrow’ have been restored
and are now in use in the English portion of the "Venice-Simplon
Orient Express", running over much the same route
as they did in the past.
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