| The old Swansea railway that was the world's first passenger line - March 1807 Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:16, 21st September 2025 |     |
From the BBC:
The next train to arrive on platform one is the first train ever
The Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian Railway or even the Hogwarts Express. Every train journey in history can trace its origins back to one humble railway by the seaside.
It may not have felt like much at the time, but when a horse-drawn wagon started trundling down a Welsh tramway in 1807 it was a significant moment in history. The world's first passenger railway service had left the world's first station with a couple of hardy souls making the five-mile trip around Swansea Bay.
"Now there's trains and stations in virtually every corner of the world - but it all started in south Wales," said TV rail historian, Tim Dunn.
This week it will be 200 years since what has often been described as the birth of the modern railway - when the Stockton to Darlington public line in north-east England became the world's first to use steam locomotives.
But by September 1825, the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea had already been running for 18 years, in what the Guinness Book of Records acknowledges as the world's first fee-paying passenger railway line.
"The reason the Stockton and Darlington has become famous - perhaps unjustly - and the reason we're celebrating 200 years of the railway this year is because of a PR exercise by that railway company years ago," added Tim. "But really, it all started in Swansea."
When the Swansea to Oystermouth line first carried passengers in 1807, horses pulled the carriage five miles around Swansea Bay
Horses pulled wagons three times a day between The Mount in Swansea and the seaside village of Oystermouth.
The Mount became the world's first recorded railway station - but forget posh coffee shops or supermarkets, because there wasn't even a ticket office. In fact, historians don't think there was even a platform. It is thought that passengers clambered up onto the wagon from a mound by the side of the track.
Today, what was The Mount station is a patch of grass alongside a nondescript dual carriageway in the middle of Swansea. "It is often underplayed, but there were big railways firsts in Wales that are of huge significance," added Tim.
Steam power first replaced horses on the Swansea to Mumbles line in 1877 when trials were undertaken with one of Henry Hughes's patent tramway locomotives
"They might not have changed the world, but they helped shape the world. Wales needs to own and celebrate that more," Tim said.
The Oystermouth Railway came three years after another railway first in south Wales - when pioneering inventor Richard Trevithick worked out how to move a locomotive using steam for the first time in 1804.
South Wales was a key player in the industrial revolution as Welsh coal was exported around the world and Swansea docks was said to export more than half of the world's copper. "South Wales was where the money was," added Tim. "And where there's money and industry, there's innovation."
The Oystermouth Railway was initially built to carry Mumbles limestone and Clyne coal to Swansea docks, before investors worked out that they could cash in on the line's stunning seafront location.
The development of heavy industry, particularly copper, led to the growth of Swansea into one of the busiest ports in the world
Local entrepreneur Benjamin French, one of the line's original proprietors, paid £20 a year to run passenger trains on the tramway from 25 March 1807, then the only link from Swansea to Oystermouth. Wagons weaved through terraced streets of the old town before making its way along the seafront to the headland on the other side of Swansea Bay.
"A return ticket would cost a shilling, which in those days was a lot of money," added local historian Phil Andrew, who gives talks to Swansea schoolchildren about the role their city played in the birth of the railways. "There were arguments at the time in Swansea about industry or tourism. The population of Swansea in 1801 was about 6,000 people and the train started to take tourists to the seaside to enjoy the sea air, as much of south Wales was heavily industrialised at the time."
(BBC article continues)
The Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian Railway or even the Hogwarts Express. Every train journey in history can trace its origins back to one humble railway by the seaside.
It may not have felt like much at the time, but when a horse-drawn wagon started trundling down a Welsh tramway in 1807 it was a significant moment in history. The world's first passenger railway service had left the world's first station with a couple of hardy souls making the five-mile trip around Swansea Bay.
"Now there's trains and stations in virtually every corner of the world - but it all started in south Wales," said TV rail historian, Tim Dunn.
This week it will be 200 years since what has often been described as the birth of the modern railway - when the Stockton to Darlington public line in north-east England became the world's first to use steam locomotives.
But by September 1825, the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea had already been running for 18 years, in what the Guinness Book of Records acknowledges as the world's first fee-paying passenger railway line.
"The reason the Stockton and Darlington has become famous - perhaps unjustly - and the reason we're celebrating 200 years of the railway this year is because of a PR exercise by that railway company years ago," added Tim. "But really, it all started in Swansea."
When the Swansea to Oystermouth line first carried passengers in 1807, horses pulled the carriage five miles around Swansea Bay
Horses pulled wagons three times a day between The Mount in Swansea and the seaside village of Oystermouth.
The Mount became the world's first recorded railway station - but forget posh coffee shops or supermarkets, because there wasn't even a ticket office. In fact, historians don't think there was even a platform. It is thought that passengers clambered up onto the wagon from a mound by the side of the track.
Today, what was The Mount station is a patch of grass alongside a nondescript dual carriageway in the middle of Swansea. "It is often underplayed, but there were big railways firsts in Wales that are of huge significance," added Tim.
Steam power first replaced horses on the Swansea to Mumbles line in 1877 when trials were undertaken with one of Henry Hughes's patent tramway locomotives
"They might not have changed the world, but they helped shape the world. Wales needs to own and celebrate that more," Tim said.
The Oystermouth Railway came three years after another railway first in south Wales - when pioneering inventor Richard Trevithick worked out how to move a locomotive using steam for the first time in 1804.
South Wales was a key player in the industrial revolution as Welsh coal was exported around the world and Swansea docks was said to export more than half of the world's copper. "South Wales was where the money was," added Tim. "And where there's money and industry, there's innovation."
The Oystermouth Railway was initially built to carry Mumbles limestone and Clyne coal to Swansea docks, before investors worked out that they could cash in on the line's stunning seafront location.
The development of heavy industry, particularly copper, led to the growth of Swansea into one of the busiest ports in the world
Local entrepreneur Benjamin French, one of the line's original proprietors, paid £20 a year to run passenger trains on the tramway from 25 March 1807, then the only link from Swansea to Oystermouth. Wagons weaved through terraced streets of the old town before making its way along the seafront to the headland on the other side of Swansea Bay.
"A return ticket would cost a shilling, which in those days was a lot of money," added local historian Phil Andrew, who gives talks to Swansea schoolchildren about the role their city played in the birth of the railways. "There were arguments at the time in Swansea about industry or tourism. The population of Swansea in 1801 was about 6,000 people and the train started to take tourists to the seaside to enjoy the sea air, as much of south Wales was heavily industrialised at the time."
(BBC article continues)
