On the first day of October, 1868, the first passenger train ran into
Saint Pancras station, and the Midland competition for London traffic now
began in earnest, and from that time onward helped to develop those
magnificent rival passenger train services between the Metropolis and
England's busy centres and between England and Scotland and Ireland,
which, for luxury, speed and comfort, stand pre-eminent. Prior to this,
the Midland access to London had been by the exercise of running powers
over the Great Northern Railway from Hitchin to King's Cross. The Great
Northern, reluctant to lose the Midland, and fearing their rivalry, had,
a few years previously, offered them running powers in perpetuity. "No,"
said Mr. Allport, "it is impossible that you can reconcile the interests
of these two great companies on the same railway; we are always only
_second-best_." Second-best certainly never suited the ambitious policy
of the Midland, and so the offer was rejected, and their line to London
made. It was at that time thought that the Midland headquarters would be
removed from Derby to London, and I remember how excited the clerical
staff and their wives and sweethearts were at the prospect.
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