The idea of transporting things and people on rails has been around for a long time. Hero of Alexandria had experimented with steam in the 1st century AD. But only in 1698 was steam used for practical purpose. Thomas Newcomen designed the world’s first successful atmospheric steam engine in 1712. In the 1760s James Watt improved steam engine.
By the 1780s both British and French pioneers were experimenting with the idea of using steam to drive heavy wheeled road engines. Richard Trevithick is credited with developing the first high-pressure engine, compact enough to operate on tramways. In 1813, William Hedley built the puffing billy, a locomotive. George Stephenson further developed it. His locomotive was used to pull the first engine-driven freight and passenger service along the 16 km route of the Stockton & Darlington railway.
In 1879, the German engineer Werner von Siemens presented the world’s first electric train. Diesel power made its debut in 1912, in a locomotive built by the Swizz firm Sulzer.
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