when were electric trains introduced in the uk
Railway electrification in Great Britain The first electric railway in Great Britain was Volk's Electric Railway in Brighton, a pleasure railway, which opened in 1883, still functioning to this day. The London Underground began operating electric services using a fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway, now part of the London Underground Northern line. The Liverpool Overhead Railway followed in 1893, being designed from the outset to be electric traction, unlike the City and South London Railway which was designed to be cable hauled initially. Main line electrification of some suburban lines began in the early years of the 20th century, using a variety of different systems. In 1921 a government committee chose 1,500 V DC overhead to be the national standard,[3] but little implementation followed and many different systems co-existed. During the interwar period, the Southern Railway adopted the 660 V DC third rail system as its standard and greatly expanded this system across its network of lines south of London.
Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 â€“ 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall, England.[1] The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He performed poorly in school, but went on to be an early pioneer of steam-powered road and rail transport. His most significant contribution was the development of the first high-pressure steam engine. He also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive. The world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place on 21 February 1804, when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.[2][3]