where was the first section of underground railway opened in the world
London Underground The idea of an underground railway linking the City of London with some of the railway termini in its urban centre was proposed in the 1830s,[13] and the Metropolitan Railway was granted permission to build such a line in 1854.[14] To prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar to London. This test tunnel was used for two years in the development of the first underground train, and was later, in 1861, filled up.[15] The world's first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives.[16] It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, and borrowing trains from other railways to supplement the service.[17] The Metropolitan District Railway (commonly known as the District Railway) opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an underground "inner circle" connecting London's main-line termini.[18] The Metropolitan and District railways completed the Circle line in 1884,[19] built using the cut and cover method.[20] Both railways expanded, the District building five branches to the west reaching Ealing, Hounslow,[21] Uxbridge,[22] Richmond and Wimbledon[21] and the Metropolitan eventually extended as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles (80Â km) from Baker Street and the centre of London.[23]
History of rail transport in Great Britain The railway system of Great Britain, the principal territory of the United Kingdom, is the oldest in the world. It was started with the building of local isolated wooden wagonways starting in 1560s. The system was later built as a patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies in late 18th century. These isolated links developed during the railway boom of the 1840s into a national network, although still run by dozens of competing companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained (see railway mania). The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However, the government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network. In 1923, almost all the remaining 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. The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until 31 December 1947.