Antiquity

* Verdelis, Nikolaos: "Le diolkos de L'Isthme", ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', Vol. 81 (1957), pp. 526-529 (526)Cook, R. M.: "Archaic Greek Trade: Three Conjectures 1. The Diolkos", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 99 (1979), pp. 152-155 (152)Drijvers, J.W.: "Strabo VIII 2,1 (C335): Porthmeia and the Diolkos", ''Mnemosyne'', Vol. 45 (1992), pp. 75-76 (75) Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M.: "Le Diolkos de l’Isthme à Corinthe: son tracé, son fonctionnement", ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'', Vol. 117 (1993), pp. 233–261 (256)Lewis, M. J. T.
"Railways in the Greek and Roman world"
, in Guy, A. / Rees, J. (eds), ''Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference'' (2001) - A basic form of the railway, the rutway, - existed in ancient Greek and Roman times, the most important being the ship trackway Diolkos across the Isthmus of Corinth. Measuring between 6 and 8.5 km, remaining in regular and frequent service for at least 650 years, and being open to all on payment, it constituted even a public railway, a concept that, according to Lewis, did not recur until around 1800. The Diolkos was reportedly used until at least the middle of the 1st century AD, after which no more written references appear.

16th–18th century

* Mid 16th century (1550) – Hand propelled mining tubs known as "hands" were used in the provinces surrounding/forming modern day Germany by the mid-16th century having been improved use since the mid-15th century. This technology was brought to England by German miners working in the Minerals Royal at various sites in the English Lake District near Keswick (now in Cumbria). * c.1594 – The first overground railway line in England may have been a wooden-railed, horse-drawn tramroad which was built at

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

, near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, around 1600 and possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about half a mile away. * c.1600 – A

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

was made at

Broseley Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

some time before 1605 to carry coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the

river Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. * 1604 –

Huntingdon Beaumont Huntingdon Beaumont (c.1560–1624) was an English coal mining entrepreneur who built two of the earliest wagonways in England for trans-shipment of coal. He was less successful as a businessman and died having been imprisoned for debt. Beaum ...

, partner of landowner Sir Percival Willoughby, built the

Wollaton Wagonway The Wollaton Wagonway (or Waggonway), built between October 1603 and 1604 in the East Midlands of England by Huntingdon Beaumont in partnership with Sir Percival Willoughby, has sometimes been credited as the world's first ''overground'' wagon ...

, running from mines at

Strelley Strelley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe and City of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is to the west of Nottingham. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 653. It is also the name of t ...

Wollaton Wollaton is a suburb and former parish in the western part of Nottingham, England. Wollaton has two Wards in the City of Nottingham (''Wollaton East and Lenton Abbey'' and ''Wollaton West'') with a total population as at the 2011 census of 24,69 ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. It was approximately two miles in length. Beaumont built three further wagonways shortly afterwards near

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of about 37,000, as of 2011. The port o ...

, to service the coal and salt trades. * 1722 – The Tranent – Cockenzie Waggonway was built by the

York Buildings Company The York Buildings Company was an English company in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Waterworks The full name of the company was The Governor and Company for raising the Thames Water at York Buildings. The undertaking was established in ...

of London, to transport coal from the Tranent pits to the salt pans at Cockenzie and the Harbour at Port Seton, in Haddingtonshire, now East Lothian. This wooden waggonway was replaced in 1815 with an iron fish bellied edgeway to Cockenzie Harbour by the new owners, the Cadell family. This was Scotland's first railway of any kind, with one section of it remaining in constant use until 1962. Some in situ stone sleeper blocks survive at the Robert Stevenson designed Cockenzie Harbour, and the entirety of the route is a way marked footpath. * 1725 – The Tanfield Wagonway was constructed to lead coal from pits around Tanfield to the Tyne at Redheugh ( Gateshead). It was the first railway built on a large scale - 5 miles of double wooden track with massive civil engineering works including deep cuttings, huge embankments and the world's first large masonry railway bridge, the

Causey Arch The Causey Arch is a bridge near Stanley in County Durham, northern England. It is the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world, and a key element of the industrial heritage of England. It carried an early wagonway (horse-draw ...

. Each 2.5 ton capacity waggon (with flanged wooden wheels) was hauled by a horse, up to 60 waggons per hour at peak times. Two miles of the wagonway route are still in use by the

Tanfield Railway The Tanfield Railway is a heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial stea ...

, making this the oldest operational railway in the world. * 1758 – The

Middleton Railway The Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working railway, situated in the English city of Leeds. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway, run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. since 1960. The rail ...

, the first railway granted powers by an Act of Parliament, carried coal cheaply from the Middleton pits to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. The line was privately financed and operated, initially as a wagonway using horse-drawn wagons. Around 1799, the wooden tracks were replace with iron edge rails at a gauge of 4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm). In 1812 the Middleton Railway became the first commercial railway to successfully use steam locomotives: the

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

, which used

John Blenkinsop John Blenkinsop (1783 – 22 January 1831) was an English mining engineer and an inventor of steam locomotives, who designed the first practical railway locomotive. He was born in Felling, County Durham, the son of a stonemason and was app ...

's patented design for rack propulsion. *1760s - Iron production in Britain began to rise dramatically, followed by a similar rise on the European continent. This was the result of the use of coke for smelting and refining pig iron and cast iron and the application of the steam engine and cast iron blowing cylinder to providing pressurized air for blast furnaces. * 1768 – The Wagon Way was constructed by the Erskines of Mar in Alloa, to carry coal from the Clackmannanshire coalfields of central Scotland to the Port of Alloa. Initially using wooden rails, these were later clad in Swedish iron (1785), and carried horse-drawn wagons. Some of the Wagon Way route still exists, although the tracks are long gone. * 1783 –

Henry Cort Henry Cort (c. 1740 – 23 May 1800) was an English ironware producer although formerly a Navy pay agent. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron (or bar iron) using innovative producti ...

patented the grooved

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

for rolling hot iron to expel molten slag. Rolling was 15 times faster than hammering. * 1783 –

patented the puddling process for making wrought iron. This was the first large scale process for making a structural grade of iron and was also much less expensive than previous methods. Puddled iron production came into widespread production after 1800. * 1784 –

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten yea ...

demonstrated a steam carriage powered by a high pressure engine. He would later show it to his neighbour

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

who would go on to build locomotives. * 1789 – The

Charnwood Forest Canal The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation", was opened between Thringstone and Nanpantan, with a further connection to Barrow Hill, near Worthington, in 1794 It marks the beginning of a period ...

, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation" uses railways to supplement the canal between

Nanpantan Nanpantan is a suburb in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is located in the south-west of the town of Loughborough, but the village is slightly separated from the main built-up area of Loughborough. It is also the site of ...

and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

, Leicestershire.

William Jessop William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Jessop was born in Devonport, Devon, the ...

had constructed a horse-drawn railway for coal wagons. He successfully used an iron edge-rail, in contrast to his partner

Benjamin Outram Benjamin Outram (1 April 1764 – 22 May 1805) was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. He was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways. Life Born at Alfreton in Derbyshire, he began his career assisting his father J ...

, who preferred the traditional iron "L" shaped flange-rail plateway. * 1793 – The Butterley Gangroad or the "

Crich Crich is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. The population at the 2001 Census was 2,821, increasing to 2,898 at the 2011 Census (including Fritchley and Whatstandwell). It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway V ...

Rail-way" was built by

, to connect the Warner Limestone Quarry to the Cromford Canal a mile away at Bullbridge. This railway included the oldest known railway tunnel located at Fritchley. * 1798 – The

Lake Lock Rail Road The Lake Lock Rail Road was an early, approximately long, horse drawn narrow gauge railway built near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The railway is recognised as the world's first public railway, though other railway schemes around the same ...

, arguably the world's first public railway, opened in 1798 to carry coal from the Outwood area to the

Aire and Calder navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the ...

canal at Lake Lock near

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, West Yorkshire, a distance of approximately 3 miles. The load of three wagons was hauled by one horse. The track used edge rails with a gauge of 3 ft 4 3/4 in (1,035 mm). The use of the line gradually declined and was closed in 1836.

1800 to 1849

* 1800 - The

Boulton & Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Eng ...

steam engine patent expired, allowing others to build high pressure engines with high power to weight ratios, suitable for locomotives. *1802 - The Carmarthenshire Tramroad, a horse-drawn goods line, located in south west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, was established by an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

. This line was used for coal transportation. It was a plateway of about 4 foot gauge, and using a pair of horses for power. *1802 - Unable to construct a canal similar to the nearby

Cyfarthfa Ironworks The Cyfarthfa Ironworks were major 18th- and 19th-century ironworks in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South West Wales. The beginning The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in L ...

, three of the four principal ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil,

: Dowlais, Plymouth and

Penydarren : ''For Trevithick's Pen-y-darren locomotive, see Richard Trevithick.'' Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales. Description The area is most notable for being the site of a 1st-century Roman fort, ...

, collaborated in building the 9.5 mile Merthyr Tramroad between Merthyr Tydfil and Abercynon. It was a single track plateway with a gauge of 4 ft 4 in over the flanges of the L shaped cast iron plate rails. The plates were 3 ft long. One horse pulled about five trams. *1803 - The

Surrey Iron Railway The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened partly in 1802 ...

, London opened. It linked the towns of

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

via

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It h ...

on the south of the Thames. It was double track plateway throughout with a spacing of about 5 feet. The rails were of the Outram pattern and were L-shaped in cross-section and 3 feet 2 inches long. The line was closed in 1846. A part of the route is now used by

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

between Wimbledon and West Croydon. *1804 - First steam locomotive railway using a locomotive called the ''Penydarren'' or ''Pen-y-Darren'' was built by

. It was used to haul iron from Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon,

. The first train carried a load of 10 tons of iron. On one occasion it successfully hauled 25 tons. However, as the weight of the locomotive was about 5 tons the locomotive's weight broke many of the cast iron plate rails. *1805 - The Croydon Merstham & Godstone goods railway opens. It was the first commercial railway and was connected to the

. *1807 - First fare-paying, horse-drawn passenger railway service in the world was established on the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea,

. Later this became known as the Swansea & Mumbles Railway although the railway was more affectionately known as "The Mumbles Train" ( cy, Tren Bach I'r Mwmbwls). The railway was laid in the form of a plateway, with the rails being approximately 4 ft (1,219 mm) in width. *1808 - The Kilmarnock & Troon Railway was the first railway in Scotland authorised by an

. It was a plateway, using L-shaped iron plates as rails. In 1817 it was also the first railway in Scotland to trial a steam locomotive. It was the '' Blücher'' that George Stephenson had used at the

Killingworth Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town in North Tyneside, England. Killingworth was built as a planned town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the Township. Other nearby towns an ...

Colliery. This locomotive could haul 30 tons of coal up a hill at 4 mph (6.4 km/h). It was used to tow coal wagons along the wagonway from Killingworth to

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

. It was subsequently withdrawn from service because of damage to the cast iron rails. *1808 -

sets up a "steam circus" (a circular steam railway using the locomotive ''

Catch Me Who Can ''Catch Me Who Can'' was the fourth and last steam locomotive, steam railway locomotive created by the inventor and mining engineer Richard Trevithick. It was an evolution of three earlier locomotives which had been built for Coalbrookdale, Pe ...

'') in London for some months, for the public to experience for 1 shilling each. *1809 -

Thomas Leiper Thomas Leiper (15 December 1745 – 6 July 1825) was a Scottish American businessman, banker and politician who owned a successful tobacco exportation business as well as several mills and stone quarries. He served as a lieutenant in the Philad ...

constructed a 60 ft long test railway in Philadelphia to show that one horse could haul ten times more weight on a railed road than on an earthen road. The railway was constructed with stone sleepers and wooden rails. *1810 - Thomas Leiper constructed a 3/4 mile long railroad to transport

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

from his quarry in Avondale Pennsylvania to Ridley Creek. *1812 - First commercial use of a steam locomotive on the

Matthew Murray Matthew Murray (1765 – 20 February 1826) was an English steam engine and machine tool manufacturer, who designed and built the first commercially viable steam locomotive, the twin cylinder ''Salamanca'' in 1812. He was an innovative design ...

of Fenton, Murray & Wood, located in Holbeck, designed a locomotive with a pinion that meshed with a rack. Murray's design was based on

's locomotive, ''Catch Me Who Can'', adapted to use

's rack and pinion system, and probably was called ''Salamanca''. It was the first two-cylinder locomotive. *1813 - Wylam Waggonway started commercial operation. The wagonway was used to haul coal

chaldron A chaldron (also chauldron or chalder) was an English measure of dry volume, mostly used for coal; the word itself is an obsolete spelling of cauldron. It was used from the 13th century onwards, nominally until 1963, when it was abolished by th ...

wagons from the mine at

Wylam Wylam is a village and civil parish in the county of Northumberland. It is located about west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is famous for the being the birthplace of George Stephenson, one of the early railway pioneers. George Stephenson's Bir ...

to the docks at

Lemington Lemington is an area and electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. History Lemington has a strong industrial history. It is famous for its brick glassworks cone, built in 1787. The River Tyne used to pass very close to Lem ...

-on-Tyne in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

using the steam locomotive '' Puffing Billy''. ''Puffing Billy'' was constructed by

coal viewer A colliery viewer or coal viewer was the manager of a coal mine or colliery. The term was mostly used in the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, in the UK. In modern use, the viewer would be the senior and responsible mining engineer at a sit ...

William Hedley William Hedley (13 July 1779 – 9 January 1843) was born in Newburn, near Newcastle upon Tyne. He was one of the leading industrial engineers of the early 19th century, and was instrumental in several major innovations in early railway devel ...

, enginewright, Jonathan Forster, and engineer

Timothy Hackworth Timothy Hackworth (22 December 1786 – 7 July 1850) was an English steam locomotive engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham, England and was the first locomotive superintendent of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Youth and early wor ...

for

Christopher Blackett Christopher Blackett (1751 – 25 January 1829) owned the Northumberland colliery at Wylam that built ''Puffing Billy'', the first commercial adhesion steam locomotive. He was also the founding owner of ''The Globe'' newspaper in 1803. Lif ...

, the owner of

Colliery. The wagon way was used for hauling coal for 50 years . *1814 -

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

constructs his first locomotive, '' Blücher'' for the

wagonway. The locomotive was modelled on Matthew Murray's. It could haul 30 tons of coal up a hill at 4 mph (6.4 km/h) but was too heavy to run on wooden rails or iron rails which existed at that time. *1822 - Stephenson's

Hetton colliery railway The Hetton colliery railway was an long private railway opened in 1822 by the Hetton Coal Company at Hetton Lyons, County Durham, England. The Hetton was the first railway to be designed from the start to be operated without animal power, as we ...

was the first purpose built railway not to use animal power, instead using stationary engines, inclines and purpose built steam locomotives. *1825 - Stephenson's

Stockton & Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near Shildo ...

was the first publicly subscribed railway to use steam locomotives. It carried freight from

collieries Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

near

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darli ...

to Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. The line opened on 26 September 1825. The following day, 550 passengers were hauled, making this the world's first steam-powered passenger railway, contrary to Liverpool's claims five years later. *1825 John Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey built a 1/2 mile circular test railroad track and also built a steam locomotive, the first in America. The locomotive had a pinion and the track had a rack. *1826, January - The first section of the Springwell Colliery Railway, later to be known as the Bowes Railway, opened. This section was the first six miles of what would become a 15-mile railway, using a mix of locomotive and rope (

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

) haulage. Part of the original line is now a British

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. *1827, 30 June - The first railway in France opened between Saint-Etienne and Andrézieux (horse-drawn carriage). Tests had been run from 1 May 1827. *1827, January to May - Construction of the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway to transport anthracite from mines in the mountains of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to the Lehigh River. It started operations in 1828. *1828 - The Bolton & Leigh Railway opened on 1 August with the locomotive '' Lancashire Witch'' pulling wagons loaded with approximately 150 passengers. However, regular passenger services did not start until 1831. *1828 - Railway (horse-drawn carriage)

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

- Linz, first public railway in continental Europe, with length 120 km and rail gauge 1,106 mm (3 ft 7 1⁄2 in), section České Budějovice - Kerschbaum put into operation on 30 September 1828. * 1828 - The

Hot blast Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a blast furnace or other metallurgical process. As this considerably reduced the fuel consumed, hot blast was one of the most important technologies developed during the Industrial Revolution. ...

technology was patented by

James Beaumont Neilson James Beaumont Neilson (22 June 1792 – 18 January 1865) was a Scottish inventor whose hot-blast process greatly increased the efficiency of smelting iron. Life He was the son of the engineer Walter Neilson, a millwright and later engin ...

. It was the most important development of the 19th century for saving energy in making pig iron. Hot blast also dramatically increased the capacity of blast furnaces and improved the quality of iron made with coke (fuel). *1828 - From 4 July the

Baltimore & Ohio The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O) began constructing a track. The South Carolina Railroad Company commenced construction a few months later. *1829 -

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...

's locomotive, ''

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

'', sets a speed record of 47 km/h (29 mph) at the Rainhill Trials held near

. *1829, 8 August - Delaware & Hudson Railroad, constructed using 16 miles of wood rails capped by strap iron, conducts the first test of

Stourbridge Lion The ''Stourbridge Lion'' was a railroad steam locomotive. It was the first foreign built locomotive to be operated in the United States, and one of the first locomotives to operate outside Britain. It takes its name from the lion's face painted ...

steam engine built in England. *1830 - The Canterbury & Whitstable Railway opened in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England on 3 May, three months before the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

. Built by George Stephenson, this was a 5¾ mile line running from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

to the small port and fishing town of

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of ...

, approximately 55 miles east of London. Traction was provided by three stationary winding engines, and ''Invicta'' which was a 0-4-0 locomotive, built by the Stephenson company, but only able to operate on level sections of track because the locomotive only produced a meagre 9 horsepower. *1830 - The first public railway in the United States, the B&O, opened with 23 miles of track, with mostly hardwood rail topped with iron. The steam locomotive, ''Tom Thumb'', was designed and built by

Peter Cooper Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the '' Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of ...

for the B&O, the first American-built steam locomotive. Trials of the locomotive began on the B&O that year. *1830 - The

Liverpool & Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

opened. It marked the beginning of the first steam passenger service which was locomotive-hauled and did not use animal power. The line had the first timetables for passengers and proper stations (with ticketing offices and platforms) and went on to prove the viability of rail transport. *1830 - The first portion of the Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway opened between Givors and Rive-de-Gier on 1 July 1830. The rest of the line opened on 1 October 1832 for passenger use only, accepting freight a few months later. It used iron rails on dice stones. The line was 58 km long with 112 bridges and three tunnels. The locomotives were based on George Stephenson's

Locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...

, but with a tubular boiler that produced six times more power. *1831 - First railway in Australia, for the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) () is a public-listed Australian company that, as at 2018, owned and operated feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's la ...

, a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

fish belly gravitational railway servicing the ''A Pit'' coal mine. *1831 - First passenger season tickets issued on the Canterbury & Whitstable Railway. *1832 - The

Leicester and Swannington Railway The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...

opened in Leicestershire. It was the first steam railway in the English Midlands. *1832 - The railway switch is patented by Charles Fox. *1833 -

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

in England is founded by the Great Western Railway. *1834 - The first section of the

Boston & Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pa ...

opens, subsequently to become part of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

. *1834 - The world's first commuter railway, the Dublin & Kingstown Railway (D&KR) opened between

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centr ...

(now Dún Laoghaire), covering a distance of six miles. *1835 - The first railway in Belgium opened on 5 May between

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and Mechelen. In 1836 a second section between Mechelen and Antwerp opened. The line still exists (now known as line 25) and is used by high speed trains between Paris and Amsterdam. *1835, 7 December - Bavarian Ludwigsbahn, the first steam-powered German railway line, opened for public service between

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...

. *1836, 21 July - First public railway in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, opened in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

with a 16-mile run between La Prairie and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. *1837 - Partial opening of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

by the London & Birmingham Railway. The complete route which ran from

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, covered 112 miles (180 km), opened during 1838, becoming England's first inter-city line. Euston became London's first railway terminus. *1837 - The first Cuban railway (under Spanish rule) line connected

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

with Bejucal. In 1838 the line reached

Güines Güines is a municipality and town in the Mayabeque Province of Cuba. It is located southeast of Havana, next to the Mayabeque River. It is the most populated town, but not the capital, of its province. History The city was founded in 1737 by t ...

. This was the first railway in Latin America. *1837 - The Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company opened the first long-distance German railway line, connecting

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

with Althen near

Wurzen Wurzen () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line via Riesa to Dresden. It has a cathedral datin ...

. In 1839 the line reached

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. *1837 - The first Austrian railway line connected

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

with

Wagram Deutsch-Wagram (literally "German Wagram", ), often shortened to Wagram, is a village in the Gänserndorf District, in the state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is in the Marchfeld Basin, close to the Vienna city limits, about 15 km (9 mi) northeas ...

. In 1839 the line reached Brno. *1837 - The first rail line in Russia connected

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. *1837 - The first line in Paris ( Paris-Saint Germain Line) opened between

Le Pecq Le Pecq () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. Geography The commune of Le Pecq is located in a loop of the Se ...

near the former royal town of

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

and Embarcadère des Bâtignoles (later to become Gare Saint-Lazare). It was the first railway in Paris and the first in France designed solely for the carriage of passengers and operated using steam locomotives. The western section from Saint-Germain to

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

is now part of the

RER A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from east to west, with all t ...

, the busiest railway line in Europe. *1837 - Robert Davidson built the first

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

. *1838 - The world's first railroad junction is formed in

Branchville, South Carolina Branchville is a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,024 at the 2010 census. History The community was so named because a railroad branch began at the town site. Branchville, located on the southern ti ...

. The railroad company extended its existing rail that ran between Charleston and the Savannah River to the north toward Orangeburg and Columbia. Both rail lines closely paralleled old Native American trails. *1838 -

Edmondson railway ticket The Edmondson railway ticket was a system for recording the payment of railway fares and accounting for the revenue raised, introduced in the 1840s.Farr, M (1997). "Edmondson, Thomas". In: Simmonds and Biddle (1997), Page 141 It is named after ...

introduced. *1839 - The first railway in the Kingdom of the

Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and all ...

, Italy, opened from Naples to Portici. *1839 - The first rail line in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

connected

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and Haarlem. *1840s – Railway Mania sweeps the United Kingdom. 6,220 miles (10,010 km) of railway lines were built during the decade. *1840 - The

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad (W&W) name began use in 1855, having been originally chartered as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1834. At the time of its completion in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with of track ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

becomes the longest railroad in the world with 161.5 miles (259.9 km) of track. *1841 - The Great Western Railway was completed from London Paddington to Bridgwater via

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, a total of 152 miles (245 km). *1842, 6 November - First railway to cross an international border in Europe is opened. The line ran between

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropol ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) and

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubai ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

). *1843 - The first rail line connecting

(

) with

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

(

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

) via Liège and Aachen (see

Rhenish Railway Company The Rhenish Railway Company (German: ''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RhE) was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century ...

). *1844 - The first rail line in Congress Poland was built between

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and Pruszków. *1844 - The first Atmospheric Railway, the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway opened for passenger service between

and

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The line was 3 km in length & operated for 10 years. *1845 - The first railway line built in Jamaica opened on 21 November. The line ran 15 miles from Kingston to Spanish Town. It was also the first rail line built in any of Britain's West Indies colonies. The Earl of Elgin, Jamaica's Governor, presided over the opening ceremonies, by the late 1860s the line extended 105 miles to Montego Bay. *1845 -

Royal Commission on Railway Gauges The Royal Commission on Railway Gauges was held in the United Kingdom in 1845 to choose between the Broad Gauge of the Great Western Railway and its allies, and the so-called narrow gauge used by most of the rest of the country. The situation in ...

to choose between Stephenson's gauge and Brunel's gauge. *1846 -

James McConnell James Edward McConnell (1815–1883) was one of the first locomotive engineers of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). He was Locomotive Superintendent of the LNWR's Southern Division at Wolverton railway works from 1847 to 1862 and o ...

met with

and Archibald Slate at Bromsgrove. This meeting led to the establishment of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

. *1846 - The first railway line in Hungary connects Pest and

Vác Vác (; german: Waitzen; sk, Vacov; yi, ווייצען) is a town in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''. Location Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank o ...

. *1846 - First international railway connection between two capitals,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

. *1846 - The Surrey Iron Railway closes, the first railway to cease operations. *1847 - Pennsylvania Railroad opens with a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. *1847 - First train in Switzerland, the Limmat, on the Spanisch-Brotli-Bahn Railway line. *1848 - First railway line in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, built between

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and Mataró. *1848 - First railway in South America,

British Guyana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...

. The railway was designed, surveyed and built by the British-American architect and artist

Frederick Catherwood Frederick Catherwood (27 February 1799 – 27 September 1854) was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th c ...

. John Bradshaw Sharples built all the railway stations, bridges, stores, and other facilities. Financing was provided by the Demerera Sugar Company, which wished to transport their product to the dock of Georgetown. Construction was in sections with the first, from Georgetown to Plaisance, opening on 3 November 1848.

1850 to 1899

* 1850: Kilometres of railway line in operation in Europe: Great Britain: 9797 (plus Ireland: 865); Germany: 5856; France: 2915; Austria: 1357; Belgium: 854; Russia: 501; Netherlands: 176. *1851 - First train in Chile from Caldera to Copiapó (80 km) *1851 - Initiative taken for a railway system in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, for setting up military routes and growing trade. *1851 -

Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million r ...

*1852 - The first railway in Africa, in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. *1853 - Railways introduced to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, train ran from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

(now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

) to

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...

. *1853 -

Indianapolis Union Station The Indianapolis Union Station is an intercity train station in the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana. The terminal is served by Amtrak's ''Cardinal'' line, passing through Indianapolis three times weekly. Indianapolis was the first c ...

, the first

union station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, opened by the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and Bellefontaine Railroad in the United States. *1854 - The first railway in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, inaugurated by Pedro II of Brazil on 30 April in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, built by the Viscount of Maua. *1854 - The first railway in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Between

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

and

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

. *1854 - The first railway in today's

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

(then

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

), on 20 August 1854, between Lisava-Oravica-Bazijaš. *1854 - First steam drawn railway in Australia. Melbourne to Hobson's Bay, Victoria. *1855 - The

Panama Railway The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near ...

with over of track is completed after five years of work across the Isthmus of Panama at a cost of about $8,000,000 dollars and over 6,000 lives—the first '

transcontinental railway A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

'. *1856 - The first railway in Papal State, Italy, from Rome to

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated wit ...

. *1856 - First railway completed in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, linking Lisbon to Carregado. *1856 - Paris–Marseille railway opened, which together with other railways north of Paris created the first

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

(from the English Channel to the Mediterranean Sea) *1857 - Steel rails first used in Britain. *1857 - The first railway in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, built by Ferrocarril del Oeste between

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and Flores, a distance of 10 km, opened to the public on 30 August. *1858 - The first railway line in Ottoman Empire (Turkiye) opens between Izmir-Aydin. *1858 -

Henri Giffard Baptiste Jules Henri Jacques Giffard (8 February 182514 April 1882) was a French engineer. In 1852 he invented the steam injector and the powered Giffard dirigible airship. Career Giffard was born in Paris in 1825. He invented the injector a ...

invented the

injector An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pressure. It is a fluid-dynamic ...

for steam locomotives. *1861 - First railway in Paraguay, from the station to the Port of Asuncion on 14 June. *1862 - The first railway in Finland, from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna. *1862 - The

Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

is opened. *1863 - First

underground railway The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

, the Metropolitan Railway opened in London. The adapted steam engines held condensed steam and let it out only at particular tunnel locations that had air vents. This gave rise to a new mode of subterranean urban transit: the Subway/U-Bahn/Metro. *1863 - Scotsman Robert Francis Fairlie invented the

Fairlie locomotive A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Fairlies are most famously associated with the Ffestiniog Rai ...

with pivoted driving

bogies A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

, so trains could negotiate tighter track curves. This innovation was rare for steam locomotives, but was the model for most future diesel and electric locomotives. *1863 - First steam railway in New Zealand opened from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

to Ferrymead. *1863 - World's first narrow - gauge steam locomotive built, The Princess (Later named Princess) for the Ffestiniog Railway *1864 - First railway line opened in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

The North line covered 50 km (31 mi) and started operation on 23 May. *1865 - Pullman sleeping car introduced in the USA. *1866 - Ruse-Varna is the first railway line completed in Bulgaria (then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

), connecting the Danube port of Ruse with the Black Sea port of Varna. *1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad (North America) completed across the United States from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. Built by Central Pacific and

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

. *1869 -

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...

established the

Westinghouse Air Brake Company The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (sometimes nicknamed or abbreviated WABCO although this was also confusingly used for spinoffs) was founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier in the year he had i ...

in the United States. *1870 - The Paldiski-

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

- St Petersburg line is opened as the first railway line in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

). *1871 - The Poti- Zestafoni line is opened as the first railway line in

Georgia (country) Georgia (, ; ) is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwes ...

and

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. *1872 - The first passenger train ran on October 10, 1872, from Poti to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. *1872 - The first railway in Japan was inaugurated by

government of Japan The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary stat ...

, and connected between Shimbashi in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. *1872 - The

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

put in a third-class coach on its trains. *1875 - Midland Railway introduced eight and twelve wheeled bogie coaches. *1877 -

Vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum br ...

s are invented in the United States. *1879 - First electric railway demonstrated at the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Trades Fair. *1881 - First public electric tram line, the

Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway The Gross Lichterfelde Tramway was one of the world's first electric tramways ( Miller's line was electrified in 1875). It was built by the Siemens & Halske company in Lichterfelde, a suburb of Berlin, and went in service on 16 May 1881. Ove ...

, opened in Berlin, Germany. *1881 - One of the first railway lines in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

was built between

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and

Rayy Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. *1882 - Lavatories were introduced on the Great Northern Railway coaches in Britain *1882 - The

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

connected

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri ...

with the Southern Pacific at Deming, New Mexico, thus completing a second transcontinental railroad in the U.S.. *1882 - First line in Kingdom of Serbia: 12 km long 600 mm wide gauge track from

Majdanpek Majdanpek ( sr-cyr, Мајданпек; ro, Maidan) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia, and is not far from the border of Romania. According to 2011 census, the municipality of Majdanpek had a populati ...

copper processing plant to Velike Livade, constructed by the "Serbian Copper & Iron Co" (official name in English, most stock holders were British), first run in June 1882. *1883 - First electric tram line using electricity served from an overhead line, the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened in Austria. *1883 - Southern Pacific linked

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

with

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

thus completing the third U.S. transcontinental railroad. *1883 - The Northern Pacific Railway links

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

—the fourth U.S. transcontinental railroad. *1883 - The '' Orient Express'', a long-distance passenger train service connecting Paris to Constantinople /

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, was created by

Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Newrest Wagons-Lits, formerly (lit. ''International Sleeping-Car Company''), also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is a division of particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being ...

(CIWL). *1885 - The

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

is completed 5 years ahead of schedule, the longest single railway of its time, which links the eastern and western provinces of Canada. *1888 - Frank Sprague installs the "trolleypole" trolley system in Richmond, Virginia, making it the first large scale electric street railway in the US, though the first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company. *1888, 30 May - The first railway in British Hong Kong, Peak Tram opened. *1889 - The first

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. *1890 - The City & South London Railway was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use

electric traction A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...

*1891 - Construction began on the long

Trans-Siberian railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

in Russia. Construction completed in 1904. Webb C. Ball established the first railway watch official guidelines for railroad chronometers. *1892 - The first horse-drawn tram line in Belgrade,

. *1893 - The

Liverpool Overhead Railway The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers' Umbrella or Ovee) was an overhead railway in Liverpool which operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893 with lightweight electric multiple units. The railway had a number ...

opened on 6 March 1893 with 2-car electric multiple units, the first to operate in the world. *1893 - The first railway in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

between

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

to Samut Prakan opened (13.05 mi). The Great Northern Railway linked

St Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

to Seattle—the fifth U. S. transcontinental railroad. *1894 - Thailand's tram line using electricity served in

. *1894 - Serbia's first electric tram line in Belgrade. *1895 - Japan's first electrified railway opened in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. *1895 - First mainline electrification on a four-mile stretch (

Baltimore Belt Line The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and New York City/Jersey City with the rest of the railroad at Baltimore, Marylan ...

) of the

*1898 - The first railway line in the Congo Free State between

Matadi Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...

in the province of Kongo-Central to Kinshasa opened. *1899 - The first

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

railway line connects Noryangjin (

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

) with Jemulpo ( Incheon). *1899 -

's first electric railway, the predecessor to

Keihin Electric Express Railway (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. ...

opened. *1899 - First use of three-phase alternating current in a mainline. The 40 km Burgdorf-Thun line opened in Switzerland

20th century

JR East Shinkansen lineup at Niigata Depot 201210

*1901 - Kenya-Uganda Railway completed and opened. *1908 - Hejaz Railway opened. *1912 - The world's first diesel locomotive (a diesel-mechanical locomotive) was operated in the summer of 1912 on the

Winterthur–Romanshorn railway The Winterthur–Romanshorn railway, also known in German as the ''Thurtallinie'' ("Thur valley line"), is a Swiss railway line and was built as part of the railway between Zürich and Lake Constance (Bodensee). It connects Winterthur with Romans ...

in Switzerland. *1912 -

Articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

trams, invented and first used by the

Boston Elevated Railway The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Rai ...

. *1913 - First diesel powered

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

enters service in Sweden. In

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, the first electrified metric railway was opened between Arad and the neighboring vineyards, facilitating transportation of goods and people and reducing travel time from half a day to just one hour (total distance around 60 km). *1915 - First major stretch of electrified railway in Sweden; Kiruna-Riksgränsen (

Malmbanan The Iron Ore Line ( sv, Malmbanan) is a long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden, owned by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). The line also contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaar ...

). *1917 -

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

produced an experimental Diesel-electric locomotive using Lemp's control design—the first in the United States. *1920 - U.S. employment is 2,076,000.''Historical statistics'' (1976) series Q-398 *1924 - First

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

built in Soviet Union,

Russian locomotive class E el-2 The E el-2 (Cyrillic script: Ээл2) was a Soviet diesel-electric locomotive designed by Yury Lomonosov and built in Germany. The work was started by Hohenzollern Locomotive Works in Germany but, for political reasons, it was later transferred ...

. *1925 - The first electric train ran between

(

Victoria Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was d ...

) and Kurla, a distance of 16 km. The first electric train of

. *1925 -

Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...

with

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...

s supplied by

built a prototype Diesel switching locomotive (shunter), the AGEIR boxcabs. Mumbai to Pune route electrified in India, WCG 1 electric locomotives were introduced on the route. *1926 - First diesel locomotive service introduced in Canada. *1930 - GE began producing diesel-electric switching engines. WCP1 (EA/1), electric locomotives were introduced on the Mumbai - Pune Route. *1934 - the first train ('' Flying Scotsman'') to officially hit 100 mph. *1934 - First diesel-powered

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

passenger train in America (the Burlington ''Zephyr'') introduced at the Chicago World's Fair. *1935 - First

children's railway A children's railway or pioneer railway is an extracurricular educational institution, where children interested in rail transport can learn railway professions. This phenomenon originated in the USSR and was greatly developed in Soviet times. T ...

opens in

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. *1937-41 - Magnetic levitation (maglev) train patents awarded in Germany to Hermann Kemper, with design propelled by linear motors.These German patents would be GR643316(1937), GR44302(1938), GR707032(1941). *1938 - In England, the world speed record for steam traction was set by the '' Mallard'', which reached a speed of 203 km/h (126 mph). *1939 - In

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

the

Trans-Iranian Railway The Trans-Iranian Railway ( fa, راه‌آهن سراسری ایران) was a major railway building project started in Pahlavi Iran in 1927 and completed in 1938, under the direction of the then-Iranian monarch Reza Shah. It was entirely built ...

opened, built entirely by local capital. *1939 - Diesel-electric railroad locomotion entered the mainstream in the U.S. when the Burlington Railroad and

start using diesel-electric " streamliners" to haul passengers. *1940 - U.S. employment is 1,046,000. *1942-45 - The U.S. gives over 117 steam locomotives worth over $2,624,182 ($1945) to the Soviet Union under U.S.

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

. *1946 - U.S. railroads begin rapidly replacing their rolling stock with diesel-electric units—not completing the process until the mid 1960s. *1948, 1 January - British Railways formed by nationalising the assets of the 'Big Four' railway companies ( GWR, LMS, LNER and SR). *1948, 1 March - Foreign-owned railway companies nationalised in

during the first term of office of President Peron. *1951 - World's first preserved railway, the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...

, operates its first train under the preservation movement on 14 May 1951. *1953 - Japan sets

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

world speed record of 145 km/h (90 mph) with Odakyū 3000 series SE

Romancecar The is Odakyu Electric Railway's name for its limited express luxury tourist services south-west of Tokyo, to mountain resorts such as Hakone and Gotemba (Mount Fuji), and beaches such as Odawara and Enoshima. When the service started in 19 ...

. *1959, April - Construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka commenced. *1960 - US employment is 793,000. *1960 - the last British steam engine is made ('' Evening Star''). *1960s-2000s (decade) - Many countries adopt high-speed rail in an attempt to make rail transport competitive with both road transport and air transport. * 1963, 27 March - Publication of ''The Reshaping of Britain's Railways'' (the Beeching Report). Generally known as the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

, it led to the mass closure of 25% of route miles and 50% of stations during the decade following. *1964 -

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

service introduced in Japan, between Tokyo and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. Trains average speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) due to congested shared urban tracks, with top speeds of 210 km/h. *1967 - Automatic train operation introduced. *1968 - British Rail ran its last final steam-driven mainline train, named the '' Fifteen Guinea Special'', after of a programmed withdrawal of steam during 1962–68. It marked the end of 143 years of its public railway use. Thailand's tram line was stop serviced. *1970, 21 June -

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

, the dominant railroad in the northeastern United States, became bankrupt (the largest US corporate bankruptcy up to that time). Created only two years earlier in 1968 from a merger of several other railroads, it marked the end of long-haul private-sector US passenger train services, and forced the creation of the government-owned

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

on 1 May 1971. *1975, 10 August - British Rail's experimental

tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide ab ...

, the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) achieved a new British speed record, the APT-E reaching 245 km/h (152.3 mph). The prototype APT-P pushed the speed record further to 261 km/h (162.2 mph) in December 1979, but when put into service on 7 December 1981, it failed and was withdrawn days later, resuming only from 1980 to 1986 on the West Coast Main Line. *1979 - High speed TGV trains introduced in France, TGV trains travelling at an average speed of . and with a top speed of . *1981 -

Port Island Line The , commonly known as is an urban automated guideway transit (AGT) system in Kobe, Japan, operated by Kobe New Transit. Opened in 1981, the Port Liner was the world's first driverless urban transit system, a few years ahead of the VAL syste ...

of Kobe first fully driverless train introduced. *1984 - The

Kolkata Metro The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four ...

is a metro railway transport system serving the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in the

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. The Kolkata Metro was the first Metro Railway in India, opening for commercial services from 24 October 1984. The metro system has most of its stations underground. Being the first of its kind in India and in the entire South Asia, the metro system is proudly called "India's First, Kolkata's Pride. *1987 - World speed record for a diesel locomotive set by British Rail's

High Speed Train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

(HST), which reached a speed of . *1989 - Cairo Underground Metro Line 1 is the first line of underground in Africa and Middle East Line length with 34 stations Daily ridership 1 million passenger Operating speed . *1990 - World speed record for an electric train is set in France by a TGV, reaching a speed of . *1990 - ADtranz low floor tram world's first completely

low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspac ...

introduced. *1994-1997 -

Privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

. The British government passes ownership of track and infrastructure to

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

on 1 April 1994 (replaced by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

in 2002), with passenger operations later franchised to 25 individual private-sector operators, and freight services sold outright.

21st century

*2000 -

introduced the '' Acela'' on the Northeast Corridor in the United States. *2001 August -

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

first electrified railway opened between Shenyang and Harbin. *2001 - High Speed 1, Britain's first high-speed rail line opens, allowing trains to run from London Waterloo to

on dedicated high-speed track. *2003 - Germany introduces

capa vehicle A capacitor electric vehicle is a vehicle that uses supercapacitors (also called ultracapacitors) to store electricity. , the best ultracapacitors can only store about 5% of the energy that lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can, limiting them ...

trams in Mannheim. *2007 - High speed trains travelling at are introduced in Spain between

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and

. *2007 - Modified trainset of France's TGV had beaten its original world record when it travelled from Metz- Reims at a speed of . *2007 - Ireland's first Intercity DMU, the

IE 22000 Class The 22000 Class "InterCity Railcar" is a diesel multiple unit in service with Iarnród Éireann in Ireland. They are the first IÉ DMUs built specifically for InterCity routes, although they can also work on some commuter routes. They are design ...

, enters service running on the Dublin-Sligo line. *2008 - the first British standard gauge steam train made in 50 years ( 60163 ''Tornado''). *2009 -

Škoda 15 T Škoda 15T (also known as Škoda ForCity Alfa) is a 100% low-floor multiple-unit tram developed by VUKV a.s. and built by Škoda Transportation in Pilsen for the Prague tram network. It was a successor to the Škoda 14 T, featuring articulated ...

world's first completely low-floor tram with articulated bogies introduced. *2015 - In March, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated the world's first hydrogen

fuel cell vehicle A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell, sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor, to power its onboard electric motor. Fuel cells in vehicles generate e ...

tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao. The chief engineer of the CSR subsidiary

CRRC Qingdao Sifang CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong province. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China. History Q ...

*2017 - Ground-level power supply technology, ''TramWave'', developed by Italian company Ansaldo, successfully entered commercial application via the opening of Zhuhai tram Line 1 first phase in China. *2018 - Alstom Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered train enters service in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. *2018 - driverless

trams in Potsdam The Potsdam tramway network (german: Straßenbahnnetz Potsdam) is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Potsdam, the capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. The network is owned and operated by th ...

tested. *2020 – The world's first driverless, autonomous ullettrain enters into service in China. *2021 – The pilot project of the "world's first automated, driverless onventionaltrain" is launched in the city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany.

References

External links

Guide to Railway History, worldwide (2016)
* Waggonway Research Circle
The Wollaton Wagonway of 1604. The World's First Overland Railway
, August 2005 * Describes status of railways worldwide, includes numerous photos as well as c. 1906 continent diagrams of railways
History of Railroad Unions in the U.S.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Railway History *Timeline

Antiquity

16th–18th century

1800 to 1849

1850 to 1899

20th century

21st century

See also

References

External links