 1825 - Stockton and Darlington Railway opened on 27th September
1826 - Construction of the railway line between Liverpool and Manchester began.
1829 - As the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway drew closer a competition was held to choose the locomotive design, which was to run on the railway. In October, the 'Rainhill Trails' took place and George Stephenson's 'Rocket' (left) locomotive won the competition.
 1830 - The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway opened in May. On September 15th, and dubbed as the first modern 'mainline' the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened.
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was believed to be the prototype for the future of the railway as it used steam locomotives along its entire length, where as the Stockton to Darlington Railway used both horse and steam power.
Pictured right is a view of the tunnels at Liverpool Edge Hill.
1836 - The first railway in London opened from Spa Road to Deptford, which formed part of the London and Greenwich Railway.
1837 - The Grand Junction Railway opened in July between Birmingham and Warrington. This formed part of the first mainline linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
 1838 - The pioneering Great Western Railway (GWR) opened its first section from Paddington to Maidenhead in June, using a 7 foot gauge.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the first chief engineer of Great Western Railway and thought that a wider gauge would mean that coaches were less cramped and that the railway would run more efficiently.
George Stephenson's 4 foot 8.5 inch gauge was already in use across the country.
Pictured left is a Brunel wide gauge engine running along a mixed gauge track.
1838 - In September the London and Birmingham Railway opened.
1841 - The first railway to cross the Pennines was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in March.
1842 - The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened in February.
1846 - 'Railway Mania' started when 273 railway proposals received Royal Assent. The Gauge commission met and decided that Stephenson's 4 foot 8.5 inch gauge would become Britain's standard and that Brunel's system would have to be changed.
1848 - The Caledonian Railway opened between Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh completing the 400 mile London-West Coast-Scotland route.
1850 - The London to Edinburgh line along the East Coast was opened.
 1863 - The first city underground railway was opened in London between Bishops Road and Farringdon Street.
1890 - The City and South London Railway opened the first electric underground railway.
Pictured right is an early underground train on the Golders Green to Hendon line in 1923.
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