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The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830, was the world's first inter-city railway. It was the first to use only steam locomotives, with no horse-drawn traffic, and the first to run entirely to a timetable. It cut the journey between the two cities to about two hours.

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Merchants in Liverpool's port and Manchester's cotton mills wanted a cheaper, faster link than the canals, whose owners they felt were overcharging for carrying cotton. To choose their locomotives, the directors held the Rainhill Trials in October 1829, won by George and Robert Stephenson's Rocket. The line was also the first to be double-tracked all the way, to have a signalling system, run by policemen with flags, and to carry mail. Its passenger service was a great success, and most stagecoach companies on the route soon closed. The opening day was overshadowed when William Huskisson, the Member of Parliament for Liverpool, was struck by Rocket and died. The line's success helped set off the 'railway mania' of the 1840s, a boom in railway building across Britain.

Türkçe oku
15 Eylül 1830'da açılan Liverpool ve Manchester Demiryolu, dünyanın ilk şehirlerarası demiryoluydu. Trenleri yalnızca buharlı lokomotifler çekiyordu, atlı taşıtlara hiç yer yoktu ve bütün seferler tarifeye bağlıydı; bunların hepsi bir ilkti. İki şehir arasındaki yolculuk yaklaşık iki saate indi.

Liverpool limanındaki tüccarlar ve Manchester'ın pamuk fabrikaları, kanallardan daha ucuz ve daha hızlı bir bağlantı istiyordu; kanal sahiplerinin pamuk taşımak için fazla para aldığını düşünüyorlardı. Şirket yöneticileri lokomotifleri seçmek için Ekim 1829'da Rainhill yarışmalarını düzenledi; yarışmayı George ve Robert Stephenson'ın Rocket adlı lokomotifi kazandı. Baştan sona çift hat olarak döşenen ilk demiryolu da buydu; bayraklı polislerin yönettiği bir sinyal sistemi olan ve posta taşıyan ilk demiryolu da. Yolcu taşımacılığı büyük başarı kazandı ve güzergâhtaki posta arabası şirketlerinin çoğu kısa sürede kapandı. Açılış günü, Liverpool milletvekili William Huskisson'ın Rocket'ın çarpması sonucu hayatını kaybetmesiyle gölgelendi. Hattın başarısı, 1840'larda Britanya'da demiryolu yapımının patladığı “demiryolu çılgınlığı”nı başlatan etkenlerden biri oldu.

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