In the autumn of 1872 Mr. Allport visited the United States and was greatly impressed with the Pullman cars.  On his return he introduced them on the Midland, both the parlour car and the sleeper.  About the same time the London and North-Western also commenced the running of sleeping cars to Scotland and to Holyhead.  To which company belongs the credit of being first in the field with this most desirable additional accommodation for the comfort of passengers I am not prepared to say; perhaps honors were easy.

But the greatest innovation of the time were the running by the Midland of third-class carriages by all trains; and the abolition of second-class carriages and fares, accompanied by a reduction of the first-class fares.  The first event took place in 1872, but the latter not till 1875.  The first was a democratic step indeed, and aroused great excitement.  Williams, in his book The Midland Railway, wrote, “On the last day of March, 1872, we remarked to a friend:  ’To-morrow morning the Midland will be the most popular railway in England.’  Nor did we incur much risk by our prediction.  For on that day the Board had decided that on and after the first of April, they would run third-class carriages by all trains; the wires had flashed the tidings to the newspapers, the bills were in the hands of the printers, and on the following morning the Directors woke to find themselves famous.”  At a later period, Mr. Allport said, if there was one part of his public life on which he looked back with more satisfaction than another it was the time when this boon was conferred on third-class passengers.

When we contemplate present conditions of third-class travel it is hard to realise what they were before this change took place; slow speed, delays and discomfort; bare boards; hard seats; shunting of third-class trains into sidings and waiting there for other trains, sometimes even goods trains, to pass.  Mr. Allport might well be proud of the part he played.

Another matter which concerned, not so much the public as the welfare of the clerical staff of the railways, was the establishment of Superannuation Funds; yet the public was interested too, for the interests of the railway service and the general community are closely interwoven.  Up till now station masters and clerks had struggled on without prospect of any provision for their old age.  Their pay was barely sufficient to enable them to maintain a respectable position in life and afforded no margin for providing for the future.

At last, the principal railway companies, with the consent of their shareholders, and with Parliamentary sanction, established Superannuation Funds, which ever since have brought comfort and security to their officers and clerical staff, and have proved of benefit to the companies themselves.  A pension encourages earlier retirement from work, quickens promotion, and vitalises the whole service.  On nearly all railways retirement is optional at sixty and compulsory at sixty-five.