When did the first railways start in the UK?

Question

When did the first railways start in the UK?

Answer 1

The trans-atlantic railway connected the US and UK in the 1880s.

Answer 2

The first railways in the UK were horse-drawn tracks with cast-iron rails called tramways, dramways or plateways (depending on which part of the country you lived in). They appeared around the end of the 18th century when the industrial revolution was starting and typically, would cover the distance between a mine or quarry and the nearest jetty where the stone, coal or whatever could be loaded onto a boat for transport along the canals or the coast.

The first use of steam power on the railway was in 1804 when Richard Trevithick built and ran his locomotive at Pen-y-Darren near Merthyr in South Wales.

Trevithick also operated a locomotive called 'Catch-me-who-Can' on a circular track in Hyde Park, London in 1808.

The first commercial railway in the world was the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the north-east of England, built and operated by George Stephenson, opened in 1825.

Stephenson went on to build the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830) which saw the introduction of his most famous locomotive, the 'Rocket', the most advanced design of its day.

Other railway pioneers were John Blenkinsop, William Hedley and of course Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built the Great Western Railway to a gauge of 7ft 0.25in when everyone else was using 4ft 8.5in.

Answer 3

I believe that the first train could have been from early 19th century stockton to darlington [ co durham] england. the quaker Pease was involved....unless that was the first passenger train...pedestrians ran along side of it..all excitement.

Answer 4

Thats where i live! Its the oldest running railway in the world that still runs.

Im sorry i dont know when it started BUT its in England on Brighton beach.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

I think the Stockton and Darlington railway was the first passenger steam locomotive line to open in the mid 1820s.  Before then, carts were pulled by horses on rails.  There were a lot of early pioneers in this field in the early 1800s.

Answer 6

Ignoring the many horse drawn wagonways of North East England and South Wales, used for the transport of coal only, in 1825, with the Stockton and Darlington Railway. This was initially built as a goods line to carry coals from the mines of South-West Durham to the coast for onward transport by ship. Initially, the Directors did not envisage passenger transport but had soon to acknowledge the fact that people wanted transportation as well as coal. Passengers were, however, carried on the opening day, as shown in the famous picture of the skew bridge at Darlington by Dobbin. The Liverpool and Manchester was the first to be built as a passenger line from inception.

The line in Brighton referred to in one answer was the first ELECTRIC railway, but it came much later than the two mentioned above.

Answer 7

In the early 1800's

Answer 8

the first railways, as we currently recognise them, were developed to transport coal (IIRC in the North East of England), often with static locomotive power pulling waggons on a track laid on a trackbed... IIRC rope railways

the first passenger railway is generally accepted to be the Liverpool to Machester Railway. The Rainhill trials, an open competition to select the locomotive power for the railway, took place in 1829

the first trials in steam powered railways were in the 1810's with Trethiviks locomotive

however arguably they were evolutions of the waggonways that were in Europe in the 1500's, although suggest the basic idea dates back to the Greeks, Romans an elsewhere where the track was made out of groves cut in the rock trackbed.

Answer 9

The Stockton to Darlington line opened in 1836, but some mines used a primitive system with wooden rais as long ago as the 16th century.

Answer 10

1825; Stockton & Darlington Railway.

There had been previous examples of trucks running along rails, horse hauled, and generally in coal mines and quarries, but the S&D was the first that we would recognize as a railway with Locomotive, many trucks, rails, signalling, points &c.