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.
