Timeline of railway history

This is a timeline of rail transport history.

Contents
600 BC
16th-18th century
1800 to 1850
1850 to 1899
20th century
21st century
See also
References
External links

600 BC
c. 600 BC[1][2][3][4][5]:8–19 (11) - A basic form of the railway, the rutway,[5]:8–19 (8 & 15) - existed in ancient Greek and
Roman times, the most important being the ship trackwayDiolkos across the Isthmus of Corinth. Measuring between
6 and 8.5 km,[5]:8–19 (10) [6][7] remaining in regular and frequent service for at least 650 years, [1][2][3][4][5] 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.[5]:15 The Diolkos was reportedly used until at least the middle of the 1st century AD, after which no
more written references appear.[5]:8–19 (11)

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 in proven use since the mid-15th
century. This technology was brought to England by German minerals working in the MineralsRoyal at various sites
in the English Lake District near Keswick (now in Cumbria).[8]
c.1594 – The first overground railway line in England may have been a wooden-railed, horse-drawn tramroad which
was built at Prescot, near Liverpool, 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 .[9]
c.1600 – A funicular railway was made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1605 to carry coal for James
Clifford from his mines down to theriver Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. [10]

1604 – Huntingdon Beaumont, partner of landowner Sir Percival Willoughby , built the Wollaton Wagonway, running
from mines at Strelley to Wollaton in Nottinghamshire. It was approximately two miles in length. Beaumont built three
further wagonways shortly afterwards nearBlyth, Northumberland, to service the coal and salt trades.
1722 – The Tranent – Cockenzie Waggonway was built by the York Buildings Companyof 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 Waggonway was constructed to lead coal from pits around a Tnfield 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. 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 waggonway route are still inuse by the Tanfield Railway, making
this the oldest operational railway in the world.
 1758 – The Middleton Railway, the first railway granted powers by Act of Parliament, carried coal cheaply from the
Middleton pits to Leeds. The line was privately financed and operated, initially as a waggonway using horse-drawn
waggons. Around 1799, Middleton began to replace wooden tracks 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 of John Blenkinsop.
1760s - Iron production in Britain begin to rise dramatically , followed by a similar rise on the European continent.
Causes were the use ofcoke 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 forblast furnaces.[11]
1768 – The Wagon Way was constructed by the Erskines of Mar in Alloa, to carry coal fro m 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 W agon Way route still exists, although the tracks are long
gone. [12]

1783 – Henry Cort patented the groovedrolling mill for rolling hot iron to expel molten slag.Rolling was 15 times
faster than hammering.[13]
1783 – Henry Cort 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.[13]
1784 – William Murdock demonstrated a steam carriage powered by a high pressure engine.He would later show it
to his neighbor Richard Trevithick who would go on to build locomotives.
1789 – The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation" has a
railways to supplement the canal betweenNanpantan and Loughborough, Leicestershire. William Jessop had
realised a horse-drawn railway for coal wagons. He used successfully an iron edge-rail, in contrast to his partner
Benjamin Outram, who, for other such lines, preferred the traditional iron "L" shaped flange-rail plateway .
1793 – the Butterley Gangroad or the "Crich Rail-way" was built byBenjamin Outram, to connect the Warner
limestone Quarry to theCromford Canal a mile away at Bullbridge.[14] Contains the oldest known Railway tunnel at
Fritchley [15]
1798 – the Lake Lock Rail Road, arguably the world's first public railway , opened in 1798 to carry coal from the
Outwood area to the Aire and Calder navigation at Lake Lock nearWakefield, West Yorkshire, on a distance of
approximately 3 miles.[16] The load of three waggons was hauled by one horse. The track used edge rails to a
gauge of 3 ft 4 3/4 in (1,035 mm.). The line gradually declined and was closed in 1836.

1800 to 1850
1800 The Boulton and Watt steam engine patent expired, allowing others to build high pressure engines with high
[17]
power to weight ratios, suitable for locomotives.
1802 - The Carmarthenshire Tramroad, later the Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway, located in south westWales,
was established by theAct of Parliament. This line was used for coal transportation. It was a plateway of about 4 foot
gauge, and powered with a pair of horses.
1802 - Unable to construct a canal like the nearbyCyfarthfa Ironworks, three of the four principal ironworks at
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales : Dowlais, Plymouth and Penydarren collaborated in building the 9.5 mileMerthyr 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 first public railway, the Surrey Iron Railway, London.[18] It linked the towns of Wandsworth and Croydon
via Mitcham 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 are 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 byTramlink between Wimbledon and West Croydon.
1804 - First steam locomotive railway known as Penydarren or "Pen-y-Darren" locomotive was built by Richard
Trevithick, used to haul iron fromMerthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, Wales. The first train carried a load of 10 tons of iron.
On one occasion it successfully tried hauling 25 tons. However , the weight of the locomotive was about 5 tons and
broke many of the cast iron plate rails.
1805 - The Croydon Merstham & Godstone railway opens; first commercial railway , connected to the Surrey Iron
Railway
1807 - First fare-paying, passenger railway service in the world was established on the Oystermouth Railway in
Swansea, Wales. Later this became known as theSwansea and Mumbles Railwayalthough the railway was more
affectionately known as "The Mumbles Train" (Welsh: Tren Bach I'r Mwmbwls). The railway was laid in the form of a
plateway, with the rails being approximately 4ft (1,219 mm) and used a horse-drawn vehicles. At the beginning the
railway survived using various forms of traction until 1960.
1808 - The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was the first railway in Scotland authorised byAct of Parliament. It was a
plateway, using L-shaped iron plates as rails.In 1817 It was also the first in Scotland to use asteam locomotive. It
was the Blücher from George Stephenson used atKillingworth Colliery. This locomotive could haul 30 tonsof 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. It was
withdrawn from service because of damage to the cast iron rails.
1808 - Richard Trevithick sets up a "steam circus" (a circular steam railway with locomotiveCatch Me Who Can) in
London for some months, for the public to experience for 1 shilling each.
1812 - First commercial use of asteam locomotive on the Middleton Railway, Leeds. Matthew Murray of Fenton,
Murray and Wood, in Holbeck, designed a locomotive with a pinion that meshed with a rack. Murray's design was
based on Richard Trevithick's locomotive, Catch me who can, adapted to use Blenkinsop's rack and pinion system,
and probably was calledSalamanca. It was the first two-cylinder locomotive.
1813 - Wylam Waggonway to haul coal chaldron wagons from the mine atWylam to the docks at Lemington-on-Tyne
in Northumberland : steam locomotive Puffing Billy started commercial operation.Designer William Hedley,
blacksmith Timothy Hackworth. Ran for 50 years hauling coal.Wylam is the birthplace of George Stephenson.
1814 - George Stephenson constructs his first locomotive, Blücher for the Killingworth wagonway. The locomotive
was modelled on Matthew Murray's. Itcould 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 in that time.
1825 - Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first publicly subscribed, adhesion worked railway using
steam locomotives, carrying freight from aColliery to a river port. The line opened on 26 September 1825. The
following day, 550 passengers were hauled, making this the world's first passenger railway , contrary to the claims of
Liverpool five years later.
1826 January - the first section of the Springwell Colliery Railway , latter to become known as theBowes Railway
opened, this was the first six miles of what would become a 15-mile railway , using a mix of locomotive and rope
(cable) haulage. Part of the original line is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
1827 June 30 - The first railway opened in France betweenSaint-Etienne and Andrézieux(horse-drawn carriage).
Some tests had been run since May 1, 1827. The of ficial opening ceremony on October 1, 1828 never really took
place, this date being in fact the first fiscal year of the railway company .
1828 Railway (horse-drawn carriage) České Budějovice - 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
September 30, 1828.
1828 Hot blast was patented by James Beaumont Neilson. 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 withcoke (fuel).[13]
1828 July 4 - the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad(B&O) began constructing a track.[19] The South Carolina Railroad
Company commenced construction a few months later .
1829 - George and Robert Stephenson's locomotive, Rocket, sets a speed record of 47 km/h (29 mph) at theRainhill
Trials held near Liverpool.
1830 - The Canterbury and Whitstable Railwayopened in Kent, England on 3 May, three months before the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Engineered by George Stephenson, a 5¾ mile line running fromCanterbury to
the small port and fishing town ofWhitstable, approximately 55 miles east of London. T raction was provided by three
Stationary Winding Engines, and "Invicta"; Invicta was an 0-4-0 Loco, built by the Stephenson company , but only
operated on a level section of track because she produced a meagre 9 hp.
1830 - The first public railway in the United States, theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad(B&O), opened with 23 miles of
track, with mostly hardwood rail topped with iron. The steam locomotive, Tom Thumb (locomotive), was designed
and built by Peter Cooper for the B&O — the first American-built steam locomotive.Trials of the locomotive began
on the B&O that year.
1830 - The Liverpool and Manchester Railwayopened, and the first steam passenger service, primarilylocomotive-
hauled, began. The line proved the viability of rail transport. Large scale railway construction started in Britain, then
spread throughout the world, beginning the Railway Age.
1830 - The first portion of theSaint-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 use
iron rails on dice stones. The line was 58 km long and had a 375 meters elevation with 112 bridges and three
tunnels. The locomotives were based onGeorge Stephenson Locomotion, but with a tubular boiler that produced six
times more power.
1831 - First railway in Australia, for theAustralian Agricultural Company, a cast iron fishbelly gravitational railway
servicing the A Pit coal mine.
1831 - First passenger season tickets issued on theCanterbury and Whitstable Railway.
1832 - The Leicester and Swannington Railway opened in Leicestershire - the first steam railway in the English
Midlands.
1832 - Railway switch patented by Charles Fox.
1833 - The Great Western Railway Works, near Swindon, England are foundedby Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
1834 - The first section of theBoston and Albany Railroadopens, subsequently becoming part of theNew York
Central Railroad.
1834 - Ireland's first railway, the Dublin and Kingstown Railway(D&KR) opened betweenDublin and Kingstown (now
Dún Laoghaire), a distance of six miles.
1835 - In Belgium, a railway opened on May 5 betweenBrussels and Mechelen : The line 25. In 1836 a second
section between Mechelen and Antwerp opened. The line still exists and is used by a high speed train between Paris
and Amsterdam.
 1835, December 7 - Bavarian Ludwigsbahn, the first steam-powered German railway line, opened for public service
between Nuremberg and Fürth.
1836, July 21 - First public railway inCanada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, opened in Quebec with a
16-mile run between La Prairie and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
1837 - Partial opening of theLondon and Birmingham Railway Line(L&BR) running from Euston to Birmingham,
112-miles (180 km), open throughout in 1838, becoming the capital's first inter-city line. Euston was London's first
railway terminus.
1837 - The first Cuban railway line connectedHavana with Bejucal. In 1838 the line reachedGüines. This was also
the first railway in Latin America and the Iberian world in general.
1837 - Leipzig–Dresden Railway Companyopened the first long-distance German railway line, connecting Leipzig
with Althen near Wurzen. In 1839 the line reachedDresden.
1837 - The first Austrian railway line connectedVienna with Wagram. In 1839 the line reachedBrno.
1837 - The first rail line in Russia connectedTsarskoye Selo and Saint Petersburg.
1837 - The first line in Paris (Paris-Saint Germain Line) opened between Le Pecq near the former royal town of
Saint-Germain-en-Layeand Embarcadère des Bâtignoles (later to becomeGare Saint-Lazare). It is the first railway
from Paris, but also the first of France designed solely for the carriage of passengers and operated with steam
locomotives. Still open today, the western section from Saint-Germain toNanterre is now part of the RER A, the
busiest railway line in Europe.
1837 - Robert Davidson built the first electric locomotive
1838 - Edmondson railway ticketintroduced.
1839 - The first railway in the Kingdom of theTwo Sicilies, Italy, opened from Naples to Portici.
1839 - The first rail line in theNetherlands connected Amsterdam and Haarlem.
1840 - The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad in North Carolina 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, to Bridgewater , via Bristol, a total of 152 miles
(245 km).
1842, November 6 - First border crossing by rail betweenMouscron (Belgium) and Tourcoing (France)
1843 - The first international rail line, connectingBrussels (Belgium) with Cologne (then Prussia) via Liège and
Aachen (see Rhenish Railway Company)
1844 - The first rail line inCongress Poland was built between Warsaw and Pruszków.
1844 - The first Atmospheric Railway, the Dalkey Atmospheric Railwayopened for passenger service between
Kingstown & Dalkey in Ireland. The line was 3 km in length & operated for 10 years.
1845 - The first railway line built in Jamaica opened on November 21. 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 Gaugesto choose between Stephenson's gauge and Brunel's gauge.
1846 - James McConnell met with George Stephenson and Archibald Slate atBromsgrove. It was at this meeting
that the idea of the Institution of Mechanical Engineerscame about.
1846 - The first railway line in Hungary, connects Pest and Vác
1846 - First international railway connection between two capitals,Paris and Brussels.
1847 - First train in Switzerland, the Limmat, on the Spanisch-Brotli-Bahn Railway line.
1848 - First railway line inSpain, built between Barcelona and Mataró.
1848 - First railway in South America, British Guyana.The railway was designed, surveyed and built by the British-
American architect and artist Frederick Catherwood. John Bradshaw Sharples built all the railway stations, bridges,
stores, and other facilities. Financing was provided by the Demerera Sugar Company , who 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. The opening day's festivities were marred when the locomotive ran over and killed
one of the railway's directors. After this, multiple more railways were created, however , this is just the beginning
timeline

1850 to 1899
1850: Kilometers 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. [20]

1851 - First train in Chile from Caldera to Copiapó (80 km)

1851 - Initiative taken for a railway system inBritish India, for setting up military routes and growing trade.
1851 - Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway
1852 - The first railway in Africa, inAlexandria, Egypt.
1853 - Railways introduced toIndia, train ran from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Thane.
1853 - Indianapolis' Union Station, the first "union station", opened by the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad,
Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and Bellefontaine Railroad in the United States.
1854 - The first railway inBrazil, inaugurated by Pedro II of Brazil on April 30 in Rio de Janeiro, built by the Viscount
of Maua.[21]
1854 - The first railway inNorway. Between Oslo and Eidsvoll.
1854 - The first railway in today'sSerbia (then Austrian Empire), on 20 August 1854, between Lisava-Oravica-
Bazijaš, operated on horse-drawn traffic, replaced in 1856 by steam locomotives.
1854 - First steam drawn railway in Australia.Melbourne to Hobson's Bay, Victoria.
1855 - The Panama Railway with over 50 miles (80 km) 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 firsttranscontinental
' railway'.
1856 - The first railway inPapal State, Italy, from Rome to Frascati.
1856 - First railway completed inPortugal, linking Lisbon to Carregado.
1856 - Paris–Marseille railwayopened, which together with other railways north of Paris created the first
transcontinental railroad(from the English Channel to the Mediterranean Sea)
1857 - Steel rails first used in Britain.
1857 - The first railway inArgentina, built by Ferrocarril del Oeste between Buenos Aires and Flores, a distance of
10 km, opened to the public on August 30.
1858 - Henri Giffard invented the injector for steam locomotives.
1861 - First railway in Paraguay, from the station to the Port of Asuncion on June 14.
1862 - The first railway in Finland, from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna.
1862 - The Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railwayis opened.
1863 - First underground railway, the 4-mile (6.4 km) 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: theSubway/U-Bahn/Metro.
1863 - Scotsman Robert Francis Fairlie invented the Fairlie locomotive with pivoted drivingbogies, 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 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 inMauritius 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 theOttoman Empire), connecting the
Danube port of Ruse with the Black Sea port ofVarna.
1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad (North America) completed across the United States fromOmaha,
Nebraska to Sacramento, California. Built by Central Pacific and Union Pacific.
1869 - George Westinghouse established the Westinghouse Air Brake Companyin the United States.
1870 - The Paldiski-Tallinn-St Petersburg line is opened as the first railway line inEstonia (then part of the Russian
Empire).
1872 - The Midland Railway put in a third-class coach on its trains.
1875 - Midland Railway introduced eight and twelve wheeled bogie coaches.
1877 - Vacuum brakes are invented in the United States.
1879 - First electric railway demonstrated at theBerlin Trades Fair.
1881 - First public electric tram line, theGross-Lichterfelde Tramway, opened in Berlin, Germany.
1881 - One of the first railway lines in theMiddle East was built between Tehran and Rayy in Iran.
1882 - Lavatories were introduced on theGreat Northern Railwaycoaches in Britain
1882 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railwayconnected Atchison, Kansas with the Southern Pacific Railroad
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 fromMajdanpek 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.[22]
1883 - First electric tram line using electricity served from an overhead line, the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram
opened in Austria.
1883 - Southern Pacific Railroadlinked New Orleans, Louisianawith Los Angeles, Californiathus completing the
third U.S. transcontinental railroad.
1883 - The Northern Pacific Railway, links Chicago, Illinois with Seattle, Washington—the fourth U.S.
transcontinental railroad.
1885 - The Canadian Pacific Railwayis 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.
1890 - First electric London Underground railway (subway) opened in London—all other subway systems soon
followed suit.
1890 - U.S. employment is 749,000.[23]
1891 - Construction began on the 9,313 km (5,787 mi) longTrans-Siberian railway 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 inBelgrade, Serbia.[24]
1893 - The first railway inThailand between Bangkok to Samut Prakan opened (13.05 mi). The Great Northern
Railway linked St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle—the fifth U. S. transcontinental railroad.
1894 - Thailand's tram line using electricity served inBangkok.
1894 - Serbia's first electric tram line in Belgrade.
1895 - Japan's first electrified railway opened inKyoto.
1895 - First mainline electrification on a four-mile stretchBaltimore
( Belt Line) of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
1899 - The first Korean railway line connects Noryangjin S ( eoul) with Jemulpo (Incheon).
1899 - Tokyo's first electric railway, the predecessor to Keihin Electric Express Railwayopened.
1899 - First use of three-phase alternating current in a mainline. The 40 km Burgdorf-Thun line opened in
Switzerland

20th century
1900 - U.S. employment is 1,018,000.[23]
1913 - First diesel powered railcar enters service in Sweden. In Austria-Hungary, 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 inSweden; Kiruna-Riksgränsen (Malmbanan).
1917 - GE 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.[25]
1924 - First diesel-electric locomotive built in Soviet Union (USSR).
1925 - The first electric train ran betweenBombay (Victoria Terminus) and Kurla, a distance of 16 km. The first
electric train of India.
1925 - Ingersoll-Rand with traction motors supplied by GE built a prototype Dieselswitching 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 - First diesel-poweredstreamlined passenger train in America (theBurlington Zephyr) introduced at the
Chicago World's Fair.
1935 - First children's railway opens in Tbilisi, USSR.
1937-41 - Magnetic levitation (maglev)train patents awarded in Germany toHermann Kemper, with design propelled
by linear motors.[26]
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 the Trans-Iranian Railway opened, built entirely by local capital.
1939 - Diesel-electric railroad locomotion entered the mainstream in the U.S. when the Burlington Railroad and
Union Pacific start using diesel-electric "streamliners" to haul passengers.
1940 - U.S. employment is 1,046,000.[25]
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.[27]
1946 - U.S. railroads begin rapidly replacing their rolling stock with diesel-electric units—not completing the process
until the mid 1960s.
1948, January 1 - British Railways formed by nationalising the assets of the 'Big Four' railway companies (GWR,
LMS, LNER and SR).
 1948, March 1 - Foreign-owned railway companiesnationalised in Argentina during the first term of office of
President Peron.
1951 - World's first preserved railway, the Talyllyn Railway, operates its first train under the preservation movement
on the 14 May 1951.
1953 - Japan sets narrow gauge world speed record of 145 km/h (90 mph) withOdakyū 3000 series SE
Romancecar.
1959, April - Construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen betweenokyo T and Osaka commenced.
1940 - US employment is 793,000.[25]
1960s-2000s (decade) - Many countries adopthigh-speed rail in an attempt to make rail transport competitive with
both road transport and air transport.
1963, March 27 - Publication ofThe Reshaping of Britain's Railways(the Beeching Report). Generally known as the
"Beeching axe", it led to the mass closure of 25% of route miles and 50% of stations during the decade following.
1964 - Bullet Train service introduced in Japan, between T okyo and Osaka. Trains average speeds of 160 km/h
(100 mph) due to congested shared urban tracks, with top speeds of 210 km/h.
1968 - British Rail ran its last final steam-driven mainline train, named theFifteen 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, June 21 - Penn Central, 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 on May 1, 1971.
1975, August 10 - British Rail's experimental tilting train, the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) achieved a new
British speed record, the APT-E reaching 245 km/h (152.3 mph).[28] The prototype APT-P pushed the speed record
further to 261 km/h (162.2 mph) in December 1979, [29] but when put into service on 7 December 1981, it failed and

was withdrawn days later, [30] 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 213 km/h
(132 mph). and with a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph).
1984 - The Kolkata Metro is a metro railway transport system serving the city ofKolkata and the districts of South 24
Parganas and North 24 Parganas in theIndian state of West Bengal. 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 (HST), which reached a
speed of 238 km/h (148 mph).
1989 - Cairo Underground Metro Line 1 is the first line of underground in Africa and Middle East Line length 44
kilometres (27 mi) with 34 stations Daily ridership 1 million passenger Operating speed 100 km/h (62 mph).
1990 - World speed record for an electric train is set in France by a TGV, reaching a speed of 515 km/h (320 mph).
1994-1997 - Privatisation of British Rail. The British government passes ownership of track and infrastructure to
Railtrack on 1 April 1994 (replaced byNetwork Rail in 2002), with passenger operations later franchised to 25
individual private-sector operators, and freight services sold outright.

21st century
2000 - Amtrak introduced the Acela Express on the Northeast Corridor in the United States.
2001 August - Northeast China first electrified railway opened betweenShenyang and Harbin.[31]
2001 - HS1, Britain's first high-speed rail line opens, allowing trains to run from London St Pancras to Paris on
dedicated high-speed track.
2007 - High speed trains travelling at 350 km/h (217 mph) are introduced in Spain betweenMadrid and Barcelona.
2007 - Modified trainset of France'sTGV had beaten its original world record when it travelled from Metz- Reims at a
speed of 574.8 kilometres per hour (357.2 mph).
2007 - Ireland's first Intercity DMU, theIE 22000 Class, enters service running on theDublin-Sligo line.[32]
2010 - Shanghai Metro overtakes London Underground as the world's largest urban transit system (now serving:
420 km (260 mi) with 278 stations (235 not including stations served more than once)

See also
History of rail transport
Years in rail transport
History of rail transport by country
 Timeline of United States railway history
Timeline of transportation technology

References
1. Verdelis, Nikolaos: "Le diolkos de L'Isthme",Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, Vol. 81 (1957), pp. 526-529
(526)
2. Cook, R. M.: "Archaic Greek Trade: Three Conjectures 1. The Diolkos",The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 99
(1979), pp. 152-155 (152)
3. Drijvers, J.W.: "Strabo VIII 2,1 (C335): Porthmeia and the Diolkos", Mnemosyne, Vol. 45 (1992), pp. 75-76 (75)
4. 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)
5. Lewis, M. J. T., "Railways in the Greek and Roman world"(http://www.sciencenews.gr/docs/diolkos.pdf) Archived (htt
ps://www.webcitation.org/5oAdDX3dj?url=http://www.sciencenews.gr/docs/diolkos.pdf)2010-03-12 at WebCite, in
Guy, A. / Rees, J. (eds), Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways
Conference (2001)
6. Raepsaet, G. & Tolley, M.: "Le Diolkos de l’Isthme à Corinthe: son tracé, son fonctionnem
ent", Bulletin de
Correspondance Hellénique, Vol. 117 (1993), pp. 233–261 (246)
7. Werner, Walter: "The largest ship trackway inancient times: the Diolkos of the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece, and early
attempts to build a canal",The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1997), pp. 98–119 (109)
8. Michael Lewis and Jonathan Taunton, Early wooden railways (A.M. Kelley, 1970).
9. Jones, Mark (2012). Lancashire Railways – The History of Steam. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 5.ISBN 978 1
84674 298 9.
10. Peter King, The First Shropshire Railwaysin G. Boyes (ed.), Early Railways 4: Papers from the 4th International
Early Railways Conference 2008(Six Martlets, Sudbury, 2010), pp. 70–84.
11. Tylecote, R. F. (1992). A History of Metallurgy, Second Edition. London: Maney Publishing, for the Institute of
Materials. ISBN 978-0901462886.
12. http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/spw020247
13. Landes, David. S. (1969).The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western
Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge, New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.ISBN 0-
521-09418-6.
14. "EARLY YEARS" (http://www.butterleygangroad.co.uk/bgearlyyears.html). www.butterleygangroad.co.uk. Retrieved
2017-03-20.
15. Engl, Historic (2015-03-17)."Heritage Highlights: Where is one of the world's oldest surviving railway tunnels?"
(http
s://heritagecalling.com/2015/03/17/heritage-highlights-where-is-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-surviving-railway-tunnels/)
.
Heritage Calling. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
16. "Lake Lock Rail Road" (http://www.stanleyhistoryonline.com/Lake-Lock-Rail-Road.html). Stanley History Online.
Retrieved 2011-08-01.
17. James Watt: Monopolist (https://mises.org/library/james-watt-monopolist)
18. "Surrey Iron Railway 200th - 26th July 2003"(https://web.archive.org/web/20070523122428/http://www .stephensonlo
co.fsbusiness.co.uk/surreyiron.htm). Early Railways. Stephenson Locomotive Society. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.stephensonloco.fsbusiness.co.uk/surreyiron.htm) on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
19. Dilts, James D. (1996).The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828-
1853. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. xv–xvi.ISBN 978-0-8047-2629-0.
20. B. R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics 1750-1970(1975) pp 581-82
21. City of Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro,"Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110706160218/http://fctp.petropoli
s.rj.gov.br/fctp/modules/xt_conteudo/index.php?id=194). Archived from the original (http://fctp.petropolis.rj.gov.br/fct
p/modules/xt_conteudo/index.php?id=194)on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
22. Reference in Serbian (http://www.naslovi.net/2016-02-27/kurir/7-prica-o-zeleznici-u-srbiji/18119397)
23. U.S. Bureau of the Census,Historical statistics of the United States(1976) p 740 series Q-398
24. "Important Years in City History" (http://www.beograd.org.rs/cms/view.php?id=201239). City of Belgrade. Retrieved
2009-10-28.
25. Historical statistics (1976) series Q-398
26. These German patents would be GR643316(1937), GR44302(1938), GR707032(1941).
27. Soviet Lend Lease, p. 22[1] (https://web.archive.org/web/20090810113210/http://geocities.com/mark_willey/lend.ht
ml) accessed 2 February 2009
28. "The APT" (http://www.springhill.f9.co.uk/apt.htm). Gerry Bates website. 2010-08-02. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
29. "British Rail Advanced Passenger Train" (http://trainoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/01/british-rail-advanced-passenge
r-train.html). Train Of The Week website. 2010-08-02. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
30. "APT - The lean machine"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1695589.stm). BBC News website. 2010-08-02. Retrieved
2010-08-02.
31. First Electric Railway in Northeast China Open to T
raffic (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18388912.html)
32. http://www.irrs.ie/Journal%20170/170%2022000%20Class.htm

External links
Guide to Railway History, worldwide (2016)
Waggonway Research Circle:The Wollaton Wagonway of 1604. The World's First Overland Railway, August 2005
Adams, Cyrus C. (January 1906)."The World's Great Railroad Enterprises: BigSchemes on Every Continent". The
World's Work: A History of Our Time. XIII: 8423–8436. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 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.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=T

imeline_of_railway_history&oldid=854090298"

This page was last edited on 8 August 2018, at 22:09(UTC).

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.