This week marks the 185th anniversary of the opening of the world's first passenger railway - the Liverpool to Manchester line.
On September 15th, 1830, the way the world travelled changed forever. The new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester was the first line of its kind between two major cities fully served by steam engines and the first to provide a scheduled passenger service. It was officially opened with an inaugural journey full of celebration and drama, including a derailment, near riots and a death.
However, it also heralded the age of the train as the transport system for the Industrial Revolution and beyond. The Manchester terminus, Liverpool Road Station, is now an iconic grade I listed building, part of the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester. The line took just five months to build and was an enormous success, transporting goods and up to 1000 people daily.
On the day of the launch, the journey started at Liverpool’s Crown Street Station and began well with dignitaries including Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and Prime Minister at the time, taking their seats just before 9am when the parade of eight trains pulled away.
Crowds had gathered along the western end of the line from early morning and extended for miles outside the city. Industrious local business men had built grandstands for spectators and the Liverpool Mercury had suggested a public holiday so that people could see the engines and the assembled guests. An estimated 50,000 people were said to be at the Liverpool end.
But just 13 miles outside of Liverpool, one of the engines, Phoenix, derailed and the following train crashed into its rear carriage. However, no one was hurt in the incident and Phoenix was levered back on the track for the journey to continue.
The next accident was not so lucky.
At Parkside, where the trains stopped to take on water, William Huskisson, former cabinet minister and Member of Parliament for Liverpool, approached Wellington’s carriage over the tracks. Distracted, he didn’t notice another locomotive, Rocket, approaching. He tried to enter the Duke’s carriage to save himself but the door swung open and he fell into Rocket’s path. He sustained serious injuries to his leg and later died at a local vicarage in Eccles.
The Prime Minister had wished to cancel the rest of the journey but word had reached them that the crowd in Manchester was becoming unruly. They decided to carry on and reached Liverpool Road Station just before 3pm. The crowd in Manchester was divided between those who supported the Duke’s polices and protesters asking for ballot voting rights and against the Corn Laws. The Duke refused to leave his carriage and was pelleted with vegetables until the trains were readied for the return to Liverpool. They left Manchester again at 4.37pm.
So the start of rail travel in the UK was an eventful one, and in typical Mancunian style, protests against the government managed to grab some of the headlines too. Some things never change.
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