Where would we be without it? Probably where we need to be.

Today is a momentous day. On this day, 180 years ago, The Right Hon William Huskisson MP became the first person in the world to be killed by an intercity passenger train. Of course, that piece of history is the tragic footnote in the really memorable event. Because Huskisson was killed while taking part in one of the first intercity passenger journeys, on the opening day of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the world’s first intercity railway line. So today we can all celebrate that day and what it has led to – cramped seats, standing room only, delays, long journeys. Of course, I jest. Because the railways are the catalyst towards the modern economy and the modern state, because it was the railway that was the major way to move large numbers of both people and goods quickly, enabling cities to expand outwards, and businesses to grow. And all of that started in 1830.

1. According to the Oxford Eglish Dictionary, the word ‘train’ dates from 1330, and its original meaning was ‘tarrying, delay’.
2. As the train ran over William Huskisson’s leg, he said “I have met my death – God forgive me!”
3. ‘National Rail Timetables’ is an anagram of ‘All trains aim to be late in’.
4. According to the Oxford English Corpus, the adjectives most likely to occur after the words ‘train is’ are ‘due’, ‘late’, ‘delayed’ and ‘full’.
5. British trains were first fitted with lavatories in 1873, but only in sleeping cars.
6. In 1910, kissing was banned on French railway platforms because it caused delays.
7. The longest stretch of straight railway in the world runs for 478km between a point west of Ooldea and a point west of Loongana as part of the Trans-Australian Railway.
8. In 1928, the “Flying Scotsman” beat an aeroplane in a race from London to Edinburgh.
9. The world’s longest individual train journey is the route between Moscow and Vladivostok via the Trans-Siberian Railway, a journey of seven days and over 9,200km.

No.1 Rocket - the pioneer locomotive of intercity passenger travel