The second-class carriages of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway had wooden benches and were open at the sides. Seated four abreast, these passengers had no protection from the weather or the pollution created by the locomotive. Second-class carriages were painted a uniform blue. corresponded to travelling inside of a stage coach.

In 1833 the Liverpool & Manchester Railway began building new enclosed second-class carriages. They now were more like first-class carriages except they had bare wooden seats. The original blue second-class carriages were now described as third-class carriages.