US A reduced-rate mail service for printed matter.
2
UK, Historical The cheapest accommodation on a train or ship.
Mail trains are limited to first and second class passengers, but on the mixed trains third class is also provided, and this is patronised exclusively by natives.1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640:
Mayhew's survey found that 69 per cent of Met travellers went by third class, 20.5 per cent second, 10.5 per cent first. The Met would abolish second class in 1905 at the time of electrification.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 46:
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Allport's decision in 1872 to abolish Second Class on the Midland and effectively upgrade Third Class to the standards of Second, most notably with upholstered seating, sent shockwaves through the Victorian railway.2023 February 8, Conrad Landin, “Bon appetit: 150 years of railway dining”, in RAIL, number 976, page 47:
third-class
adj
1
Most inferior in quality or standing.
Travelling third-class isn't just slow, it's painful.
Third-class carriages are grossly overcrowded, with passengers lying on the luggage racks, standing between the benches, and occasionally even riding on the footboards and clinging to the outsides of the coaches for short distances.1950 February, W. Dendy, “Impressions of the Indian Railways—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 120: