The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present

This volume explores the relationship between cities and railways over three centuries. Despite their nearly 200-year existence, The City and the Railway in the World shows that urban railways are still politically and historically important to the modern world.

Since its inception, cities have played a significant role in the railway system; cities were among the main reasons for building such efficient but lavish and costly modes of transport for persons, goods, and information. They also influenced the technological appearance of railways as these have had to meet particular demands for transport in urban areas. In 25 essays, this volume demonstrates that the relationship between the city and the railway is one of the most publicly debated themes in the context of daily lives in growing urban settings, as well as in the second urbanisation of the global South with migration from rural to urban landscapes. The volume’s broad geographical range includes discussions of railway networks, railway stations, and urban rails in countries such as India, Japan, England, Belgium, Romania, Nigeria, the USA, and Mexico.

The City and the Railway in the World will be a useful tool for scholars interested in the history of transport, travel, and urban change.

Ralf Roth is Professor of Modern History at the Historische Seminar, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He has published several books and numerous articles on the social and cultural history of cities, transport, and communication networks.

Paul Van Heesvelde is a historian (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) who specialises in war and transportation. He is a former Special PhD fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His publications include Destination le Front. Les Chemins de fer en Belgique pendant la Grande Guerre (2014) and chapters in books on transport history.