200-year anniversary of passenger railways

When you look at the sleek, high-speed trains that we have now it’s hard to believe that it’s been 200 years since the first steam locomotive carried passengers on the Stockton to Darlington Railway on 27^th September 1825. Locomotion no. 1 was built by George Stephenson and his son Robert and it could travel at speeds of up to 12 miles per hour. Around 40,000 people turned out to see the opening of the railway, which was the first public passenger railway in the world.

Seeing the potential for transporting goods and people several railway companies laid thousands of miles of tracks and operated passenger and freight services across the UK. The massive expansion of rail in the Victorian era brought distant towns and cities within reach of each other, transforming how people lived, worked, and interacted. It also accelerated the demise of the canal network as it was much quicker to transport goods by train.

The railways continued to expand and improve. The 1920s saw the ‘Big Four’ railway companies – LNER (London and North Eastern Railway), LMS (London, Midland and Scottish Railway), GWR (Great Western Railway), and Southern Railway (SR) – created following the Railways Act of 1921. This combined many small companies into four larger ones, aiming to improve services for customers. Also at this time railway companies were pushing for higher speeds to cut journey times and in 1934 the Flying Scotsman became the first locomotive in the UK to reach 100 miles per hour.

In 1948 there was a great change when railways became nationalised. The four major railway companies were amalgamated by nationalisation and became known as British Railways. There was increased use of diesel-powered trains in the 1950s as steam began to be phased out.

The 1960s saw great change to the railways. There was the end of steam on mainline routes and the Beeching Report was published. To cut costs and modernise, Dr Richard Beeching recommended that out of 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of railway, 6,000 miles (9,700 km)—mostly rural and industrial lines—should be closed entirely, and that some of the remaining lines should be kept open only for freight. This had a great impact on many communities that had poor road connections. In hindsight, keeping more of the network open would have reduced road usage, causing less congestion and pollution. With the expansion of commuter belts and increased interest in countryside living, some of the stations which were closed are being reopened due to demand. Many of the old track beds have become walks and cycle paths, such as Balerno to Colinton in the south of Edinburgh.

Modern changes

Passenger railways have come a long way since 1825. Tickets can be booked online and there are now trolley services offering food and there are toilets on board modern trains. We can travel under the English Channel from London to Paris. Many routes are being electrified to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. High speed networks such as HS2 are being built connecting London and Birmingham.

Railways didn’t just give us travel-look at what else they gave us!

Railway posters – These were produced as a marketing tool first by LMS. Artist Norman Wilkinson pointed out that fine art posters made for the European and North American markets had had a great impact and LMS adopted this strategy. The other railway companies noted this success and followed suit. Between the 1930s and 1950s a huge range of posters appeared, promoting rail travel to cities, seaside towns and areas such as the Highlands. Now original posters are sought after and sell for vast sums at auction.

Mallard – The engine Mallard is regarded as the height of art deco style. Designed by Nigel Gressley, Mallard had a sleek, streamlined appearance and it was even tested in a wind tunnel to perfect the design to reach high speeds. It entered service in 1938 and broke the world speed record for a steam locomotive reaching 126 mph. The record still stands today. Mallard is now on display at the National Railway Museum, York.

Bridges and viaducts – Bridges are vital to carry railways across valleys and expanses of water. In Scotland we have one of the most famous of all railway bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge opened in 1890 is a multispan cantilever bridge crossing the River Forth estuary. It’s style and red colour makes it instantly recognizable. It is still in use today and has achieved UNESCO world heritage status. The Glenfinnan Viaduct on the West Highland Line is 380 meters long and has 21 spans. It is built of concrete and it has always been a spectacular sight but became world famous when it was used in the Harry Potter films. Today it draws many tourists to watch trains crossing over it.

Stations – In Victorian times no expense was spared on railway stations, they often had expansive and impressive glass roofs, intricate ironwork and impressive facades. Many such as London St Pancras and Wemyss Bay have achieved listed building status.

Edmondson railway ticket – Initially railway companies used handwritten tickets, but this was laborious for clerks and resulted in long queues. While working as a station master,  Thomas Edmondson the handwritten paper tickets by using pasteboard and printing them with an inked ribbon, a woodcut block and a mallet.  He later designed all the equipment needed to mass produce tickets. The tickets in each series were individually numbered. When a ticket was issued, it was date-stamped by a custom-made machine. The tickets to different destinations and of different types were stored in a lockable cupboard, and the lowest-numbered remaining ticket of each type was visible. Different colours and patterns helped distinguish the different types of tickets. In 1839 he set up his own ticket printing business.  His tickets and equipment came to be used throughout the world.

Heritage railways

Across the country heritage railways run on routes abandoned during the Beeching cuts. Often run by volunteers they are seen as a great outing for all the family. Older generations can reminisce about the trains of their childhood and younger ones are fascinated by the old engines and rolling stock. Some of the trains offer lunches or afternoon tea so a trip on board can be a part of a birthday or anniversary celebration. In Scotland both the Strathspey Railway and the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway offer trips along short stretches of track and food is available at certain times. They also offer special days and footplate experiences.

Railway time

Railway time is the standardisation of time across the railway network in Britain, in November 1840. Before railway time was introduced towns on railway networks had their own local time determined by a sundial – obviously a very inaccurate way to measure time. This method was then replaced by local mean time which did allow for longitudinal and seasonal differences, but it still did not produce a uniform time throughout the country. This created confusion caused by having non-uniform local times in each town and station stop along the networks and may have contributed to the increased incidence of accidents and near misses as the network expanded. In November 1840, The Great Western Railway told all stations to use London time. The standardisation made a huge impact on daily life – almost all public authorities, including town halls and churches, used railway time by 1855.

Railway tv shows

There’s also the celebrity railway journey tv shows. It seems there’s always some celebrity jumping on a train and stopping off at various locations on a route to show us interesting places around the UK and beyond. Perhaps the one who kicked it all off was former politician Michael Portillo whose railway journeys have now been running on the BBC since 2010. Sometimes he’s touring the UK with Great British Railway Journeys but he has also done continental, American and Asian journeys. Actor Alan Cumming enjoyed a luxury train journey around Scotland in Scotland’s Poshest Train and Actor Bill Nighy narrates World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys. However these are just a few of the many celebrity railway journeys to be found on screen.

It seems we can’t get enough of railways and trains so here’s to the next 200 years of railway travel. Railway 200 marks the bicentenary of the world’s first public railway. Check online  to find out if there are any events running near you.

You can use Library Search to find books and articles on railways, transport, engineering and design.

Use the Box of Broadcasts database to watch Secrets of Flying Scotsman.

Photo by Richard Horne 

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