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Total Route Mileage by Decade

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Titfield

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I am trying to find out the total route mileage by decade from 1830 to C1910
For example
1830 140
1840 1775
1850 6890
I believe the peak was reached just before WW1 at about 22,000
Please can someone give me a definitive list?
I have tried searching on google and Wikipedia and on loads of links but nowhere can I find a table that lists it.
By individual years would be marvellous but by decade would be fine.
Thanks In Advance.
 
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etr221

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From the Railway Year Book 1915 - figures for UK (including Ireland):
Year Length of Line Open for Traffic
1860 10,433
1870 15,537
1880 17,933
1890 20,073
1900 21,355
1901 22,073
1902 22,152
1903 22,435
1904 22,534
1905 22,347
1906 23,033
1907 23,103
1908 23,205
1909 23,230
1910 23,337
1911 23,417
1912 23,441
1913 23,713

From RYB 1975, figures in km for Great Britain (i.e. excluding Ireland). 'Total length open of public main line railways' (Excludes tramways, 'light railways', etc.)
1840 2388
1860 14595
1880 25036
1900 29039
1920 32712
1940 32552
1960 30209
1973 18988

If you can track other editions down, you should be able find figures for other years

My understanding was that the maximum was actually just after WW1 (i.e. c1920)
 
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krus_aragon

krus_aragon

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Jack Simmons, in his book "The Railway in England and Wales", gives the following annual figures (excluding Scotland, naturally), collated from Parliament's Railway Returns:
1860: 7583
1861: 7821
1862: 8176
1863: 8568
1864: 8890
1865: 9251
1866: 9701
1867: 10037
1868: 10200
1869: 10774
1870: 11044
1871: 10850*
1872: 11136
1873: 11369
1874: 11622
1875: 11789
1876: 11989
1877: 12098
1878: 12229
1879: 12547
1880: 12656
1881: 12807
1882: 13052
1883: 13215
1884: 13340
1885: 13612
1886: 13678
1887: 13825
1888: 13982
1889: 14034
1890: 14119
1891: 14156
1892: 14242
1893: 14440
1894: 14536
1895: 14651
1896: 14708
1897: 14818
1898: 15007
1899: 15044
1900: 15195
1901: 15308
1902: 15358
1903: 15501
1904: 15626
1905: 15731
1906: 15859
1907: 15897
1908: 15999
1909: 16045
1910: 16148
1911: 16200
1912: 16223
1913: 16401
Click to expand...
*The drop in 1871 was explained by the Board of Trade as the result of a new method of collecting figures.

There's also a collation of passengers conveyed, receipts from passengers and goods traffic, and working expenditures. It's a bit much to transcribe, but if you're interested, I'll gladly upload a photo of the relevant pages.
 
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S&CLER

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etr221 said:
From the Railway Year Book 1915 - figures for UK (including Ireland):
Year Length of Line Open for Traffic
1860 10,433
1870 15,537
1880 17,933
1890 20,073
1900 21,355
1901 22,073
1902 22,152
1903 22,435
1904 22,534
1905 22,347
1906 23,033
1907 23,103
1908 23,205
1909 23,230
1910 23,337
1911 23,417
1912 23,441
1913 23,713

From RYB 1975, figures in km for Great Britain (i.e. excluding Ireland). 'Total length open of public main line railways' (Excludes tramways, 'light railways', etc.)
1840 2388
1860 14595
1880 25036
1900 29039
1920 32712
1940 32552
1960 30209
1973 18988

If you can track other editions down, you should be able find figures for other years

My understanding was that the maximum was actually just after WW1 (i.e. c1920)
Click to expand...

I've only just found this old thread.
I have a Railway Year Book for 1921, which gives the total mileage open for traffic in the UK including Ireland as 23,724. Another table gives total non-standard gauge mileage of 3653.75; this included all the Irish lines (3109 of 5'3" gauge alone). Subtracting this from 23,724 gives a total standard gauge mileage in the UK of 20,070. There were 544.75 miles of line of railways open to the public (that is, not such oddities as the Holyhead breakwater) at 12 different gauges other than British or Irish standard, including 395 at 3'0" gauge.

There was also 9 miles of quasi-railway with no gauge. Can you guess where that was?
 
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krus_aragon

krus_aragon

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S&CLER said:
Yes, and quite well known. Not got it yet?
Click to expand...
Well, the first ones that come to mind are Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, but I doubt it's one of them. ;)

On a more serious note, I'm only familiar with modern, touristy monorails.
 
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