AUSZUG | eb - Elektrische Bahnen INT 2/2015

77 113 (2015) INT 2 Contact Lines 2 Historical development 2.1 Construction of the first routes in England With the first locomotive designed and built in 1814 by George Stephenson, operation of the first railway in the world began under his leadership on Septem- ber 27, 1825 between Stockton and Darlington. The Stockton & Darlington Railway Company (S&DR) became the first public railway in the North East of England and started passenger transport from Bi­ shop Auckland to Middlesbrough. Initially, 4 ft 81/2 track gauge was used, which is 1435mm and later became the standard gauge worldwide. Historical studies demonstrate the origin of this gauge to be the distance between the ruts of Roman chariots ex- tending all the way to England as part of the Roman Empire’s long distance routes [1; 2]. The success of the Stockton & Darlington Railway led to the opening of the next 1435mm railway line in 1830 between the port city of Liverpool and the textile industry city of Manchester. The Rocket served as the locomotive on this new track, which reached a maximum speed of 48 km/h. For the first time passengers and freight were transported based on a schedule. The success of this line had a lasting influence on the railway development in the UK and abroad. 2.2 The Great Western from London to Bristol Since freight transport went increasingly through the port of Liverpool, the Bristol harbour was to maintain its position as the second most important port in the country with the construction of a rail- way line from London to Bristol. After a founding as- sembly meeting in 1833, Parliament commissioned the construction of the railway in 1835. The then 27-year-old Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Figure 2) was engaged as chief engineer. Brunel made two important decisions. The first concerned the choice of the wider 7ft track gauge (2140 mm) which was to guarantee smoother run- ning than the 1435mm gauge at high speed. The second decision concerned the route through the Marlborough Downs and through the valley of the Thames to London. There were no major cities in this region and consequently little resistance against the construction of the track. Brunel did the survey of the entire route perso­ nally. The first 22,5 km section between London Pad- dington station and Taplow by Maidenhead were able to be opened already in 1838. After construc- tion of the Box Tunnel in 1841, the railway reached the Temple Meads station in Bristol with the world’s first commercial telegraph line, which was put into operation already in 1839. Other major routes fol- lowed (Figure 1): • Bristol – Exeter – Plymouth 1849 (South Devon Main Line) and • Plymouth – Penzance 1860 (Cornish Main Line), • Bristol – Newport – Cardiff – Swansea 1903 (South Wales Main Line) Figure 1: Route network of the Great Western Railway, as of 1947 (Figures 1 to 6: Network Rail). Worcester Evesham Cheltenham Gloucester Swansea Bridgend Didcot Parkway Newbury Westbury Castle Cary Exeter St Davids Plymouth Penzance Taunton Tiverton Parkway Bristol Temple Meads Basingstoke Chippenham Bath Spa Newport Swindon Cardiff Central Bristol Parkway Banbury Oxford Reading London Paddington Figure 2: Isambard Kingdom Brunel .