March 22, 2018 Comments Off on #1 The first city that… had a railway station, trolleybus, or an airport Views: 1379 Looking Back, Nostalgia

#1 The first city that… had a railway station, trolleybus, or an airport

It is a question of honor when a city comes first ahead of everyone else, be it for a new invention, architectural accomplishment or amenity that has improved the livelihood of residents. In our brand new series The first city… we are all about exploring early accomplishments, paying homage to cities from around the globe both for their historical or modern-day achievements. Other cities might also be demoted, especially if it concerns lousy policy-making from city-governors that has, in turn, had unwanted consequences for residents. This first round is all about transport.

Swansea, Wales is the first city that had a railway station. It was called the Mount on the Oystermouth Railway (or what later became Swansea and Mumbles). This train station began its passenger services in 1807, although at that point instead of locomotives, trains were drawn by horses. It must have been an authentic experience anyway.

Liverpool is the city that has the oldest terminal station in the world, the Crown Street railway station built in 1830, and the first train from this station left for Manchester. This station is also slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. It was the first also to make use of a train shed. Sadly, it was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station, and the former was converted to a goods station terminal.

Berlin should have been the first city that had a trolleybus, as early as 1882. By that point, the London Underground already opened as an “underground railway” in 1863, but the city had its first electrified underground line only in 1890. Therefore, London is the first city that took pride in having a metro system. Five years later, in 1895, the first internal combustion omnibus took off from Siegen to Netphen in Germany.

When it comes to who has the world’s oldest airport, this is a subject of more heated debates, but as some consensus goes, it could have been the College Park Airport in Maryland, the United States, established in 1909 and is now generally agreed to be the world’s oldest continually operating airfield.

With harbors, the task is even more difficult. Our ancient relatives made use of numerous naturally-formed harbors as soon as they mastered skills in vessels-building and sailing, thousands of years ago. As civilizations developed, port cities were of most significant importance, such as the case with the ancient Romans who used an ancient port near Corinth in Greece and this way, their growing empire was connected to the most important trade routes that spread across the Mediterranean.

Before the ancient Romans, Athens was one of the ultimate powers on the Mediterranean, precisely because its harbors attracted merchants from all across the region, plus this was the single city-state of ancient Greece that had the most number of triremes produced. On the African coast of the Mediterranean, when Alexandria was founded within the uprise of Ptolemaic Egypt, it became one of the most powerful learning and trade centers of the ancient world. Here also was built one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world, the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria.