Trains: A history | Institute for Transportation

Go! Magazineposted on August 16, 2016Over 200 years ago, when locomotives were first being developed, people worried their speed would make passengers “unable to breath” or that “they would be shaken unconscious by the vibrations.”But today we’re all the wiser. In fact, did you know that there are trains traveling at speeds well over 300 miles per hour (mph)?Clearly, trains have changed dramatically since they first took to the rails. Like any other mode of transportation, trains, as we know them today, have been centuries in the making!RailwaysSo, where did it all begin?Today, it’s relatively simple to purchase a train ticket and travel freely—depending on what part of the world you’re in. But where did it all start? Is it possible to imagine how far we’ve come since then? Let’s try.Railways existed as early as 1550, in Germany. These pathways of wooden rails called “wagonways” were the beginning of modern rail transport, making it easier for horse-drawn wagons or carts to move along...