History of Rail Transport in Great Britain To 1830 - Early Public Railways

Early Public Railways

The earliest railways were built and paid for by the owners of the mines they served. As railway technology developed, longer lines became possible, connecting mines with more distant transshipment points and promising lower costs. These longer lines often required public subscription to build and crossed over land not owned by the mine owners. As a result they needed an Act of Parliament to build, to enforce the sale of wayleave by landowners. The Acts also protected investors from unrealistic, or downright fraudulent, schemes.

The first line to obtain such an act, in 1758, was a private coal-owner's wagonway, the Middleton Railway in Leeds. The first for public use, and on cast iron rails, was the Surrey Iron Railway incorporated in 1799. It obtained an Act of Parliament on 21 May 1801 to build a tramroad between Wandsworth and Croydon in what is now south London; the engineer was William Jessop. Although it survived only until 1845 and was for freight traffic only, it prefaced many others in different parts of the country. Meanwhile, the first passenger-carrying public railway was the Oystermouth Railway, authorised in 1807. All three of these railways were initially worked by horses; the Surrey Iron Railway remained horse-drawn throughout its life.

The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 27 May 1808 and was also built by William Jessop. It was the first line in Scotland to carry passengers. The line began life as a 4 ft (1,219 mm) gauge waggonway and at first it was operated by horses, but in 1817 locomotive haulage was trialled, using one of Stephenson's locomotives. This was the first use of a steam locomotive in Scotland.