Brighton Belle

The Brighton Belle was a named train which ran on the Southern Railway from Victoria Station in London to Brighton on the Sussex coast. Arguably the best-known electric train, certainly in the UK, this Pullman service ran from 29 June 1934 until its withdrawal on 30 April 1972.

In 1881 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway introduced the first all-Pullman train in the UK, the Brighton Pullman Limited. Subsequently ordinary rolling stock was added to the service but in 1908 an all-Pullman service was introduced under the name of Southern Belle. The train was steam-hauled until 1933 when electric units were introduced. On 29 June 1934 the train was renamed Brighton Belle and ran with this title until withdrawal.

Three 5-car all-Pullman electric multiple units designated 5Bel were built for the service and ran throughout the train's life. The service was scheduled to take 60 minutes.

By 1972 the stock was old and rode poorly by contemporary standards. Despite public protests the decision was taken not to replace the rolling stock and the service was withdrawn on 30 April 1972. All the carriages were preserved and a number are used on the Venice Simplon Orient Express.

The Southern ran four Pullman trains with the suffix 'Belle'. The others were the Bournemouth Belle, the Devon Belle and the Thanet Belle.