††This heralded extensive railway building in Britain, continental Europe and North America. For the first time in history, people could travel long distances every day to work. This meant cities could grow bigger, with outer suburbs connected by train. After the Second World War, steam engines were replaced by diesel and electric engines. However, the growth of road building, car ownership and air services had destroyed the supremacy of the railways. From the 1970s, national railway companies began to invest in fast intercity services to compete with these other forms of transport. They included the diesel high-speed trains in the United Kingdom, the ICE trains in Germany, the TGV in France and the Shinkansen in Japan. More recently, the Eurostar trains have been introduced to run services under the English Channel, joining Britain with mainland Europe. The first underground railway was opened in London in 1863.
