Holiday Trains

A steam train arrives at the coast in the height of summer. Excited children and harassed parents spill out onto the hot platform and into the sea air. Greg Morse tells the story of how the railways took Britain on holiday.

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Although the railways weren’t the first type of mass holiday transport – that prize goes to the steamships that preceded them – they helped develop many of Britain’s favourite seaside resorts. Holiday Trains follows this development, paying visits to Blackpool, Margate, Southport and Weston-super-Mare, and also looking at the other sorts of holiday that the railways made possible.

Railways didn’t just take holidaymakers to the coast. Rambling and cycling grew in popularity between 1870 and 1914, with many companies providing services and facilities for both. They also contributed to the camping craze by providing special ‘camping coaches’ on sidings or in rural station yards.

After the First World War the cost of motoring came down and the use of motor coaches grew, so railways’ share of the market fell, but it was really the rise of cheaper air fares in the 1960s that started the steady decline in holiday rail travel. However, some holiday trains can still be caught today.

This book is part of the Britain’s Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain’s past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with holiday trains in all their variety.