The line between Liverpool and Manchester was not only the first to rely exclusively on steam power, with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time, it was also the first to be entirely double-track throughout its length. It was the first railway to have a signalling system, the first to be time-tabled and the first to carry mail.

Wealthy Liverpool, which had benefitted hugely from the slave trade, imported cotton from the southern US. Manchester transformed it into garments. What was needed was a way to do it faster, and so the L&MR was born.

But it was a difficult birth. It was a complicated project to complete, but the opening in 1830 attracted engineers from all over the world, all determined to copy the new technology. Unfortunately, there was a terrible accident during the opening ceremonies when the local MP was struck by a train and killed, thereby becoming the first railway casualty.