This was the first outing of the world’s first public passenger steam train. Image courtesy of The Rainhill Railway & Heritage Society. Some time around 600 BC a railway called the rutway was built in ancient Greece to move boats from the builder’s yard to the sea across the Isthmus of Corinth. Metropolitan Railway, which was the world’s first underground railway which began its operations in 1863, forms part of the London metro system. The first time a railway used a true steam locomotive running on rails was the Liverpool to Manchester railway in 1830. It managed to pull 25 tonnes of iron material and 70 people over the distance of 10 miles. This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history. Britain celebrated the bicentenary of the steam railway locomotive with a year-long events programme, but it was not an engineering giant such as James Watt or George Stephenson that was fêted.. It took another two thousand years or so before the world’s first proper passenger line opened, and it did so in Manchester. By 1830 Stephenson’s new locomotive, the Rocket , which could achieve a speed of 36 miles per hour, was operating on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Lancashire with other ‘iron horses’ built in the factory he had now opened in Newcastle. It is the world’s third longest metro system, spanning 402km with 270 stations across its 11 lines. Train History Facts. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train… It cemented the advantages of steam locomotion as a means of carrying passengers and freight to railway builders around the world. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first steam powered, inter-urban railway designed to transport both passengers and goods. Over the course of history trains were powered by steam, electricity and diesel fuel (although one of the earliest trains in … The UK’s London Underground was originally opened in 1863 for locomotive trains. Indeed, the owner of the canal had opposed the railway to … This was extended to Leeds in 1757. The man who first put steam engines on rails was a tall, strong Cornishman described by his schoolmaster as “obstinate and inattentive”. An invention that changed the world was 200 years old in 2004. This is probably the true landmark in rail and mirrored the route of the groundbreaking Bridgewater Canal. George Stephenson did not invent the steam locomotive but “Rocket” was the first to really show its capabilities. The first wagonway was built in 1755 across Brandling land and that of friendly neighbors to the riverside wharf at Thwaite Gate. The World's First Passenger Railway: Railway Office, Liverpool, 1831. First train appeared in the year 1804. 1863: The world's first underground city service connects Paddington to Farringdon in London. Its Manchester terminus was Liverpool Road Station, now home to the Science and Industry Museum. The First Railways The first passenger-carrying railway in the UK was the Swansea and Mumbles railway. The London Underground has been expanded to 11 lines since its first opening in 1890 and serves over 1.3 billion passengers annually and 4.8 million daily making it world’s 11th busiest metro system. The service is steamy and overcrowded, and rail … This was opened in 1807 but, unlike today’s railways, didn’t use big locomotives! George Stephenson became the most famous name in the history of railways. In order to ensure permanence, Brandling sought ratification in an Act of Parliament, becoming the first railway in the world to be authorized by the Parliament. In 1890, it became the world’s first metro system when electric trains began operating on one of its deep-level tube lines. Instead, a horse drew carriages along an existing tramline.