WHAT:
Public Steam Railway
WHERE:
Stockton to Darlington, UK
LOCATION:
WHEN:
27th September 1825
WHO:
George Stephenson, Edward Pease, S&DR Co.
DETAILS:
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darlington and Stockton in County Durham, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a new port at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.
World Origin Site Joins UK Rail 200 Celebrations
World Origin Site .Org are proud to be part of the UK wide Rail 200 celebrations. There is little remaining of the original Stockton & Darlington Railway but George Stephenson’s famous rail journey is set to be marked with a plaque at both its start and finish points. Richard Starrs from the project team stands where a new memorial park is due to open featuring a World Origin Site plaque as a centre piece.
LINKS:
THIS SITE IN THE NEWS
World Origin Site Joins UK Rail 200 Celebrations – 26th September 2025
The Stockton & Darlington Railway is the Birthplace of the Modern Railway and celebrated with two World Origin Site plaques to mark the start and finish of this first historic rail journey taken by George Stephenson in 1825 aboard Locomotion No1. Both venues have been restored and feature plaques from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and World Origin Site .Org ensuring that their role in the making of the modern world is remembered for generations to come. Michael Portillo kindly commented : “I’m sure you feel – as I do – a sense of privilege celebrating these great people and events.”
