THE HISTORY.

In 1923, after the grouping of railways in the Great Britain, the many smaller companies operating services in different parts of the country were combined into four larger companies, offering people the option to travel further than they would otherwise be able to under the tickets issued by one company for their trains only. As this petition surrounds one particular company, we shall focus on it, but a host of history is available for the other companies involved.

The London Midland and Scottish Railway, often known simply as LMS, was at the forefront of transforming travel from the south of England to the capital and second city of Scotland. Under the auspices of a selection of Chief Mechanical Engineers, the company evolved multiple times from its inauguration and successfully managed to transform travel on the west coast of the UK, with the most powerful locomotives and for a short while at least, the fastest trains in operation. The company ceased to be in 1948 when nationalisation came into effect, however its legacy remains to this day.

THE PRESENT 

Virgin Trains began operations of the West Coast franchise after privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s, and together with Network Rail and their predecessors has once again transformed travel on the west coast of the UK, with fast frequent trains travelling almost the length of the country in less and less time than all who have come before them.

With privatisation, and more particularly in recent times, the UK has seen new and existing operators rebrand their services to reflect names of the mother companies to introduced many of the services they operate. Such as London Northwestern Railway, South Western Railway, Southern, and more recently LNER. East Midlands Trains is at the time of press about to transform into East Midlands Railway, a slight taste of the original Midland Railway included in the name for good measure.

THE FUTURE

Here we are on the cusp of a new operator taking over services on the WCML, only the second since privatisation, with much success before them, and much success forecast, it’s only right that the trend continues and we see a hark back to the men and women who got us all to where we stand.

Bring the legacy to life! Bring the grandeur promised under their name! Bring history and heritage to life! Bring a once striking livery into the modern lexicon! Bring a name of repute and regard to the front of your operation!

BRING BACK THE LMS NAME!