When British Railways introduced the Inter-City brand in 1966, no-one could possibly have anticipated how the idea would be emulated and adapted by railway administrations across Europe. The name actually predates 1966. Our 1961 Bradshaw shows in Table W152 that a fast morning express from London Paddington to Wolverhampton was called The Inter-City. That 9 am departure dashed to Wolverhampton in 2hrs 40mins. But here the name was applied to just a single train — not to a wider family of services. That broader usage appeared in 1966 in Britain, when Inter-City edged its way into everyday language — nudged along by TV advertising campaigns to promote the new brand. It came with a distinctive blue and white livery that was soon being seen on trains at main-line stations across Britain.