Plural of railway: systems of metal tracks and trains used to transport passengers and cargo across land.
Compound of 'rail' (from Old French 'reille,' meaning bar or rod) and 'way' (from Old English 'weg,' meaning path). The term became common in the 1830s with the industrial expansion of rail transport.
The first public railway in 1825 (Stockton to Darlington) was so revolutionary that it created a fear called 'railway spine'—doctors thought the speed and vibration of trains would cause psychological damage, yet ironically, trains actually reduced deaths by replacing the dangerous occupation of horse-riding.
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