In March 1937, Cunard added Plymouth to Queen Mary‘s route for the eastbound crossing. This would enable anyone with urgent business to catch a fast train to London, rather than wait to arrive at Southampton. It was claimed this would save about 12 hours for passengers travelling to London. Initially the crossings for 10th and 24th March, and 7th and 21st April were included, with a total of nine calls made during 1937.
Queen Mary made her initial call at Cawsand Bay, Plymouth on 15th March. At 11.00am she anchored three miles off, exactly on schedule in spite of experiencing bad weather and gales during the crossing. Four tenders from the Great Western Railway brought out a welcoming party of local dignitaries as well as Sir Percy Bates, Cunard White Star chairman and several other prominent company officials. Two boat trains left Plymouth by the early afternoon, some fourteen hours before passengers who had stayed on board docked at Southampton. Mails offloaded at Plymouth were in London the same day.