Around 4.00 am Rachna woke up to cries of chai garam, garam chai! The train had stopped at a station. But even as the tea seller pushed little earthen cups through the window bars they were moving on. As it became brighter, a fresh new scene greeted her...hills in the horizon. She saw sal forests with little plots of land in between, where brinjal and cabbage grew. And she knew she had reached her destination. She got down and walked past the engine that had hauled her such a long distance. When did these ‘iron horses’ begin their journey?, she wondered..

The journey begins…
It began in the early 19th century. Technology was the buzz word of that era..with scientists springing life-changing surprises on people. The telegraph and sewing machine. But no invention had such sweeping impact as the trains.

The first railway was built in Britain, in 1825. It was called the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

People were familiar with steam power, but the originality of railways was in putting rails and steam power together. And then using this power to move heavy goods and people over long distances. Railways changed the way human beings and their goods moved. Drastically.

In 1838, railway tracks covered 805 kilometres in Britain, but by 1855 there were over 12,875 kilometres. This expansion scaled down the cost of travel and more people could afford to do so.

Just consider this. A round ticket from London to Manchester would cost L3 and 10 cents by the stagecoach – the most popular form of travel till then. By 1851, the train fare for the same journey cost only 5 cents. That meant a far quicker and more comfortable journey on the trains for only a seventh of the stagecoach fare!

Iron workhorses
Horses and ships had been the most efficient means of transport, till then. But ships could not reach the interior and horses could not match the speed and power of this latest invention. Now thanks to the railways businesses flourished in remote areas. Also, all commodities became cheaper, because transport time and costs were reduced. Crops were carried longer distances to distant markets, and businessmen could now entertain clients from lands faraway. In England, industries such as iron, glass, and stone made large profits because these materials were used for the rails and to build the stations.

This new technology spread rapidly to other countries – France had railroads by 1829, Germany by 1835. It arrived in Italy by 1839 and in Spain by 1848. Like Britain, most of these countries had extensive colonies. And it did not take the colonial administrators long to figure out that such an infrastructure in the colonies would generate huge profits. It would provide a faster mode of transport for government officials, and also help mobilise troops over long distances. And most importantly, finished products ranging from tinned goods, mill cloth, boot polish and toys, could be sold in remotest corners of the colonies.