
A train firm has vowed to bring back third-class rail travel — but of course it won’t be called anything quite so blunt.

A new class would fall between first and second — and, as with airlines, the service to be offered by Avanti West Coast, which took over from Virgin this week, will be called something like ‘premium economy’.

This would offer a bit more legroom, snacks and better wifi, but not be as comfy as first class with its leather seats and hot meals (not that many first-class commuters south of the Thames would recognise that!).

That would leave a third tier, probably called ‘standard’ or ‘economy’.

Still, decades ago, when Britain was far more class conscious, it seemed natural for the flat-capped blue-collar fellows to be in third, bowler-hatted white-collar chaps in second, and top-hatted gents and their ladies in first.

After the war, society became more equal, so third was dropped in 1956. But was third class as awful as it sounds today?

Not a bit of it. Looking at these pictures, today’s passengers might think it was just the ticket!

Pulling pints: Even third-class passengers could enjoy Southern Railway’s fancy Tavern Cars, kitted out like a traditional watering hole, in the 1940s. But they daren’t venture into the first-class dining car beyond!

Passengers in a first class Great Western Railway dining car. Passengers could have a three course meal, including a roast dinner, for around 3/6 (18.5p). They could also order snacks and drinks. First class carriages were more luxurious than third class. The seats were wider and more comfortable, and the carriage was more elaborately decorated

Dining car that beats 1st class today. Brown Windsor soup? Certainly madam! A Great Western Railway saloon in the good old days

Passengers playing cards in a Great Western Railway dining car. The GWR were slow to convert their carriages from having compartments to being open plan. Dining cars, however, had always been open plan

Come on you reds! Football fans cram into third-class at Waterloo in 1948 — and, naturally, smoking was allowed

Letting the train take the strain: The third-class compartments on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway boasted fold-down bunks for night-time

Luxury! The first-class lounge on the LMS’s Royal Scot. Some express trains had Letting the train take the strain: The third-class secretaries for businessmen, hair salons and boudoirs — and even a cinema

1928: The interior of a sleeper of a third class coach on the Great Western Railway - with one passenger sporting a stylish mustache

Decades ago, when Britain was far more class conscious, it seemed natural for the flat-capped blue-collar fellows to be in third, bowler-hatted white-collar chaps in second, and top-hatted gents and their ladies in first

Pictued: The interior of a third class tourist car of the London and North Eastern Railway, stationed at York

Club cars were provided for the exclusive use of regular business travellers on certain routes. This comfortable first class carriage was for commuters who regularly travelled from towns in Northumbria or Yorkshire to their jobs in cities such as Leeds or Newcastle. They paid for a first class season ticket and had carriages like this one for themselves. These cars were first used in 1895 on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

25th February 1925: A new design of Third Class corridor coaches with large observation windows being built by Great Western Railways, as part of their 1936 building programme

Two women war workers carrying carpets, which have been removed from first class carriages on the Southern Railway, London, 7th October 1941. In the background, men are painting out the figure 1 on a first class carriage

5th November 1931: A railway carriage converted into a delightful home. It was previously a 'third class carriage' and was redesigned by its present owner and placed in situ at North Elmham in Norfolk

September 1923: Three servicemen wearing pith-helmets peer out of a third class smoking railway carriage. They are part of draft of 1,000 Officers and men leave Uxbridge, London, for Egypt and Iraq

Sleeping carriages had been introduced in the 1870s in the luxury Pullman trains, and by 1900 sleeping cars were running between London and Scotland, and London and the West Country

July 31, 1930: Leopold Stennett Amery, (1873 - 1955) Conservative politician, Lord of The Admiralty and Colonial Secretary between 1919 and 1929, at Waterloo station talking to some of the public school boys in the OTC (Officer Training Corps) who are off on a tour of Canada