A wagonway, essentially a railway powered by animals drawing the cars or wagons, was used by German miners at Caldbeck, Cumbria, England, perhaps from the 1560s. A … See more

From the start of 1948, the railways were nationalised to form British Railways (latterly "British Rail") under the control of the British Transport Commission. Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. … See more

• Economic history of the United Kingdom
• History of rail transport
• Rail transport in Great Britain
• List of early British railway companies See more

General
• Simmons, Jack; Biddle, Gordon, eds. (1999). The Oxford Companion to British Railway History: From 1603 to the 1990s (2nd ed.). See more

In 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened. Being was the world's first inter-city passenger railway and the first to have 'scheduled' services, terminal stations and services … See more

On 1 January 1923, almost all the railway companies were grouped into the Big Four: the Great Western Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway companies. A number of other lines, already … See more

Since privatisation, numbers of passengers have grown rapidly; by 2010 the railways were carrying more passengers than at any time since the 1920s. and by 2014 passenger numbers had expanded to their highest level ever, more than doubling … See more