Rapid Transit - History

History

Rapid transit began with the opening in 1863 of the Metropolitan Railway, now part of the London Underground. Rapid transit evolved from steam railways during the late 19th century. In 1890 the City & South London Railway in London was the first electric rapid transit railway. The electric railway eventually was merged into London Underground. The technology swiftly spread to other cities in Europe, as in Budapest, Hungary in 1896, and then to the United States. A number of elevated systems were built, starting with the 1893 100% designed electric Liverpool Overhead Railway, which also had a small underground section complete with station. The elevated railways in Chicago and New York were converted to electric from steam propulsion.

By 1940 there were 19 systems, and 66 by 1984. This included smaller cities such as Oslo and Marseille which opened extensive systems in the 1960s. Later most new systems were introduced in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Western Europe and North America have instead seen a revival of the tram, with light rail systems supplementing full-scale urban railways, and less focus on building rapid transit. At the same time, technological improvements have allowed new driverless lines and systems. Hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which have some of the features of rapid transit systems.