A brief history on the Rail Mail was taken by rail in Britain from as early as 1838 but even by 1850 the rail network was not as extensive as the roads, however, there were 10,000kms of railways by this time. Before the steam powered locomotive, horse-drawn tramways were the main mode of transport especially in coal-mining areas. Tramways were the template for the first railway developments and, although many tried and failed, it was George Stephenson who came up with the most practical steam train which was put to use on the newly opened Stockton to Darlington railway. It wasn't so long after this time that electric was considered worthy of powering these heavy beasts. The first electric train in operation was the passenger train on Volk's railway along the Brighton seafront in 1879. Soon after in 1890 the London underground railway system was electrified. Passenger and goods traffic fell with the increasing use of cars and lorries and somewhere in World War II the railway network became outdated, unreliable and inefficient. Diesel eventually replaced steam engines as it did in the boating and shipping world and by the middle of the 1960s efficient diesel engines replaced all commercial steam engines in Britain. Much of the rail network in the 1960s in Britain was removed and lines were concentrated into the main routes. Also since then, electrification of main lines is slowly doing away with the need for independently powered engines which is good for the environment and keeping costs down at the same time. Rail travel is still popular today, although somewhat diminished from its glory days, yet millions of people depend on rail for the sole purpose of commuting in and out of the big cities. However, much of the freight traffic has been lost to the roads which has put a major financial burden on the system.

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