Innovation
The Midland pioneered the use of gas lighting for trains in Britain, put third-class carriages on all its trains in 1872, and abolished second class in 1875, giving third-class passengers the level of comfort formerly afforded to second-class passengers (elsewhere some third-class passengers travelled in open wagons). This was an entirely pragmatic move—the second-class seats were not well patronised—but controversial. The railway also introduced the first British Pullman supplementary-fare cars.
The company was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923.
Read more about this topic: Midland Railway
Famous quotes containing the word innovation:
“Both cultures encourage innovation and experimentation, but are likely to reject the innovator if his innovation is not accepted by audiences. High culture experiments that are rejected by audiences in the creator’s lifetime may, however, become classics in another era, whereas popular culture experiments are forgotten if not immediately successful. Even so, in both cultures innovation is rare, although in high culture it is celebrated and in popular culture it is taken for granted.”
—Herbert J. Gans (b. 1927)