Rainhill, the Rocket and the First Intercity Line

Merchants in Liverpool and Manchester wanted a faster link than canals, whose owners charged high rates. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was planned as the first line to rely entirely on steam locomotives for regular passenger and goods service between two cities. In October 1829 its directors held the Rainhill Trials to choose a locomotive, and Rocket, built by George and Robert Stephenson, won by completing the tests reliably.

The line opened on 15 September 1830, but the day was marred when the politician William Huskisson was struck and fatally injured by Rocket. Passenger traffic far exceeded expectations, showing that railways could earn money from people as well as freight. The line set the pattern for intercity railways, with timetables, stations and double track, and it sparked a wave of railway building in Britain and abroad.