medium distances.

Commuter rail has grown in importance since the 1970s as an alternative to congested
highways and a means to promote development, as has light rail in the 21st century. Freight trains remain
important for the transport of bulk commodities such as coal and grain, as well as being a means of
reducing road traffic congestion by freight trucks.

While conventional trains operate on relatively flat tracks with two rails, a number of specialized trains exist
which are significantly different in their mode of operation. Monorails operate on a single rail, while
funiculars and rack railways are uniquely designed to traverse steep slopes. Experimental trains such as
high speed maglevs, which use magnetic levitation to float above a guideway, are under development in the
2020s and offer higher speeds than even the fastest conventional trains. Development of trains which use
alternative fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen is another 21st century development.

History

Early history

Trains are an evolution of wheeled wagons running on stone

wagonways, the earliest of which were built by Babylon circa
2,200 BCE.[2] Starting in the 1500s, wagonways were introduced
to haul material from mines; from the 1790s, stronger iron rails
were introduced.[2] Following early developments in the second
half of the 1700s, in 1804 a steam locomotive built by British
inventor Richard Trevithick powered the first ever steam train.[3]
Outside of coal mines, where fuel was readily available, steam Stockton and Darlington special
locomotives remained untried until the opening of the Stockton and inaugural train 1825: six wagons of
Darlington Railway in 1825. British engineer George Stephenson coal, directors coach, then people in
ran a steam locomotive named Locomotion No. 1 on this 40- wagons
kilometer (25-mile) long line, hauling over 400 passengers at up to
13 kilometers per hour (8  mph). The success of this locomotive,
and Stephenson's Rocket in 1829, convinced many of the value in steam locomotives, and within a decade
the stock market bubble known as "Railway Mania" started across the United Kingdom.[4]

News of the success of steam locomotives quickly reached the United States, where the first steam railroad
opened in 1829.[5] American railroad pioneers soon started manufacturing their own locomotives, designed
to handle the sharper curves and rougher track typical of the country's railroads.[6]

The other nations of Europe also took note of British railroad

developments, and most countries on the continent constructed and
opened their first railroads in the 1830s and 1840s, following the
first run of a steam train in France in late 1829.[7] In the 1850s,
trains continued to expand across Europe, with many influenced by
or purchases of American locomotive designs.[7] Other European
countries pursued their own distinct designs. Around the world,
steam locomotives grew larger and more powerful throughout the The Union Pacific Big Boy
rest of the century as technology advanced.[8] locomotives represented the pinnacle
of steam locomotive technology and
Trains first entered service in South America, Africa, and Asia power
through construction by imperial powers, which starting in the
1840s built railroads to solidify control of their colonies and