Today in History—March 25: All Aboard History for the First Passenger Railway Launch
Today in 1807 the first fee-paying passenger railway in the world began operating in Wales, with the proprietors taking some inspiration from the children who hopped rides on the horse-drawn freight wagons that traveled the line.
It would eventually be called the Mumbles Railway, and it would become the longest-running rail line in the world.
The tracks had been laid in 1804 with industry in mind. Passengers were an afterthought: The real prizes were limestone from the fishing village of Oystermouth (also called Mumbles) and coal from Clyne, ferried to the piers of Swansea for shipping.
The first passenger vehicle was a horse-drawn 12-seat carriage that made the roughly five-mile trip between Swansea and Oystermouth, giving the line its original name, Oystermouth Railway. There was no ticket office and no platform—just a spot to stand to wait to climb aboard.
The popularity of the seaside villages grew with the access afforded by the rail service, and by 1823 a one-horse-drawn 16-person carriage was making the trip twice a day.
But the success didn’t last. The line was in full operation for only a few years before a road opened that ran parallel and siphoned demand. Passenger service ceased, though the line was still used occasionally for moving coal.
One train worker, Frank Dunkin, was notorious for stopping the train to collect stray golf balls that he spotted along the route.
Passenger service made a comeback in 1855, kicking off an era of constant evolution. Steam power arrived in 1877. Other experiments included the short-lived sail (wind) power, diesel, gasoline, and electric, giving this rail line the distinction of having tried more sources of power (six!) than any other railway.
By the 1900s it was consistently called Mumbles Railway. After electricity arrived in 1928, double-decker trams followed, and by the 1940s millions of passengers were riding annually.
But after World War II, when fuel rationing ended, competition from buses and cars surged. The railway’s aged infrastructure was in need of upgrades, to the tune of £350,000. There was not enough passenger demand to justify the expense.
Service ended on January 5, 1960. The night before, thousands of people from Swansea turned out in funeral attire. They carried a coffin (don’t worry, it was empty), sang dirges, and gave their beloved railway a proper farewell.
- £20: Annual price paid by the first proprietor to open the line to passengers
- 6,000: Population of Swansea in 1801
- 2 shillings: Original cost for a round-trip ticket
- 1306: Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scots
- 1436: The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence is consecrated
- 1655: Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovers Saturn’s largest moon, Titan
