Railway time

Last updated
Clock on The Exchange, Bristol, showing two minute hands, one for London time (GMT) and one for Bristol time (GMT minus 11 minutes). Exchangeclock.JPG
Clock on The Exchange, Bristol, showing two minute hands, one for London time (GMT) and one for Bristol time (GMT minus 11 minutes).

Railway time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840, the first recorded occasion when different local mean times were synchronised and a single standard time applied. The key goals behind introducing railway time were to overcome the confusion caused by having non-uniform local times in each town and station stop along the expanding railway network [1] and to reduce the incidence of accidents and near misses, which were becoming more frequent as the number of train journeys increased.

Contents

Railway time was progressively taken up by all railway companies in Great Britain over the following seven years. The schedules by which trains were organised and the time station clocks displayed were brought in line with the local mean time for London or "London Time", the time set at Greenwich by the Royal Observatory, which was already widely known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

The development of railway networks in North America in the 1850s, [2] India in around 1860, [3] and in Europe, prompted the introduction of standard time influenced by geography, industrial development, and political governance.

The railway companies sometimes faced concerted resistance from local people who refused to adjust their public clocks to bring them into line with London Time. As a consequence, two different times would be displayed in the town and in use, with the station clocks and the times published in train timetables differing by several minutes from that on other clocks. Despite this early reluctance, railway time rapidly became adopted as the default time across the whole of Great Britain, although it took until 1880 for the government to legislate on the establishment of a single standard time and a single time zone for the country. [4]

Some contemporary commentators referred to the influence of railway time on encouraging greater precision in daily tasks and the demand for punctuality. [5]

History

Until the latter part of the 18th century, time was normally determined in each town by a local sundial. Solar time is calculated with reference to the relative position of the sun. This provided only an approximation as to time due to variations in orbits and had become unsuitable for day-to-day purposes. It was replaced by local mean time, which eliminated the variation due to seasonal differences and anomalies. It also took account of the longitude of a location and enabled a precise time to be applied.

Such new-found precision did not overcome a different problem: the differences between the local times of neighbouring towns. In Britain, local time differed by up to 20 minutes from that of London. For example, Oxford Time was 5 minutes behind Greenwich Time, Leeds Time 6 minutes behind, Carnforth 11 minutes behind, and Barrow almost 13 minutes behind. [6] In India and North America, these differences could be 60 minutes or more. Almanacs containing tables were published and instructions attached to sundials to enable the differences between local times to be computed. [7]

Before the arrival of the railways, journeys between the larger cities and towns could take many hours or days, and these differences could be dealt with by adjusting the hands of a watch periodically en route. In Britain, the coaching companies published schedules providing details of the corrections required. However, this variation in local times was large enough to present problems for the railway schedules. For instance, Leeds time was six minutes behind London, while Bristol was ten minutes behind; sunrise for towns to the east, such as Norwich, occurred several minutes ahead of London. It soon became apparent that even such small discrepancies in times caused confusion, disruption, or even accidents.

Influence of the electric telegraph

The electric telegraph, which had been developed in the early part of the 19th century, was refined by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone and was installed on a short section of the Great Western Railway in 1839. By 1852 a telegraph link had been constructed between a new electro-magnetic clock at Greenwich and initially Lewisham, and shortly after this London Bridge stations. It also connected via the Central Telegraph Station of the Electric Time Company in the City of London, which enabled the transmission of a time signal along the railway telegraphic network to other stations. By 1855 time signals from Greenwich could be sent through wires alongside the railway lines across the length and breadth of Britain. [8] This technology was also used in India to synchronise railway time.

Introduction of railway time

Great Britain

Before the advent of the telegraph, stationmasters adjusted their clocks using tables supplied by the railway company to convert local time to London Time. [9] In turn, train guards set their chronometers against those clocks.

The introduction of railway time was in the end swift despite not being straightforward. The Great Western Railway was the first to standardise its timetable on Greenwich Mean Time, in November 1840. One of the most vociferous proponents of standardising time on the railways was Henry Booth, Secretary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, who by January 1846 had ordered the adjustment of clocks to Greenwich Mean Time at both Liverpool and Manchester stations.

The Midland Railway adopted London Time at all of its stations on 1 January 1846. [10] As a consequence, in February 1846 the town council of Nottingham ordered that the town clocks be furnished with three hands, two indicating local time and the additional one the railway and post-office London time. [11]

On 22 September 1847, the Railway Clearing House, set up five years earlier to coordinate the distribution of revenue between railway companies, decreed that "GMT be adopted at all stations as soon as the General Post Office permitted it". From 1 December 1847, the London and North Western and the Caledonian Railways switched over. By January 1848, according to Bradshaws Railway Guide, the railways that had adopted London Time included the London and South Western, the Midland, the Chester and Birkenhead, the Lancaster and Carlisle, the East Lancashire and the York and North Midland. [4]

It was reported that by 1855 that 98 percent of towns and cities had transferred to GMT. [5] On the other hand, not all railway companies convinced the local dignitaries to bring their clocks on public buildings in line without stern resistance. Although by 1844 the Bristol and Exeter Railway was running to London Time, the public clocks at both Exeter and Bristol operated to local time but showed London Time by a second minute hand, 14 and 10 minutes ahead, respectively, of its companion. In Exeter this situation arose due to the reluctance of the Dean of Exeter Cathedral to concede to the demands of the railway company, the cathedral clock being the principal timekeeper for the city. Similarly, the clock at The Bristol Exchange installed in 1822 subsequently had a second minute hand added. [12] Bristol did not solely recognise railway time until September 1852. [13] It was not for a further eight years and the arrival of the electric telegraph that railway time was the sole time recognised in these towns and others in the West Country, including Bath, Devonport and Plymouth. Another town that stood its ground was Oxford where the great clock on Tom Tower at Christ Church, Oxford had two minute hands. [14]

It was not until 2 August 1880, when the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act received the Royal Assent, that a unified standard time for the whole of Great Britain achieved legal status. [15] As late as the 1950s, the Western Region of British Railways had an elaborate telephone ritual at 11:00 am for all signal boxes to synchronise their clocks with that at Paddington Station. [16]

United States

One of the first reported incidents which brought about a change in how time was organised on railways in the United States occurred in New England in August 1853, the Valley Falls train collision. Two trains heading towards each other on the same track collided as the conductors had different times set on their watches, resulting in the death of 14 passengers. Railway schedules were co-ordinated in New England shortly after this incident [17] Numerous other collisions led to the setting up of the General Time Convention, a committee of railway companies to agree on scheduling. [18]

In 1870 Charles F. Dowd, who was unconnected with the railway movement or civil authorities, proposed A System of National Times for Railroads, which involved a single time for railways but the keeping of local times for towns. Although this did not find favour with railway managers, in 1881 they agreed for the idea to be investigated by William Frederick Allen, Secretary of the General Time Convention and Managing Editor of the Travellers' Official Guide to the Railways. He proposed replacing the 50 different railway times with five time zones. He eventually persuaded the railway managers and the politicians running the cities that had several railway stations that it was in their interests to speedily adopt his simpler proposals, which aligned the zones with cities' railroad stations. In doing so they would pre-empt the imposition of more costly and cumbersome arrangements by different state legislators and the naval authorities, both of whom favoured retention of local times. [18]

Right to the end there was opposition expressed by many smaller towns and cities to the imposition of railway time. For example, in Indianapolis the report in the daily Sentinel for 17 November 1883 protested that people would have to "eat sleep work ... and marry by railroad time". [19] However, with the support of nearly all railway companies, most cities and influential observatories such as Yale and Harvard, this collaborative approach led to standard railway time being introduced at noon on 18 November 1883. This consensus held and was incorporated into federal law only in 1918. [18] [20] [21]

France

France adopted Paris Mean Time as its standard national time in 1891. It also required clocks inside railway stations and train schedules to be set five minutes late to allow travelers to arrive late without missing their trains, even while clocks on the external walls of railway stations displayed Paris Mean Time. In 1911, France adopted Paris Mean Time delayed 9 minutes 21 seconds, making it equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time without mentioning Greenwich. At the same time, slow railway station clocks were eliminated. [22] [23]

Germany

In Germany the standardisation of time had started to be discussed in the 1870s. North German railways were already regulated to Berlin Time in 1874. However, it was not until 1 April 1893 that a law was established by the German Empire "concerning the introduction of uniform time reckoning" by which all railways would operate and also all aspects of social, industrial and civil activity would henceforth be strictly regulated. [24]

Italy

Italy was newly unified as a country when on 12 December 1866 at the start of the winter season the railway timetables centred on Turin, Verona, Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo were synchronised on the time in Rome, which although it would remain notionally at least under French military control until 1870, was seen as the heart of the nation. In addition to the adoption of a single railway time there was a progressive standardisation of time for civil and commercial purposes. Milan came in line straight away, Turin and Bologna on 1 January 1867, Venice on 1 May 1880 and Cagliari in 1886. [22]

Ireland

Ireland and France were the only countries that decided not to officially adopt Greenwich Time, reflecting the political sensitivities of the time. Dublin mean time was set 25 minutes behind London time, although it came into line with international standard time in October 1916 when summer time ended, and most railway clocks were adjusted by 35 minutes rather than one hour. A slight variation was in railway stations in Ulster such as Belfast and Bangor where clocks displayed on the same dial both Dublin mean time (railway time for the island of Ireland) and Belfast Time (local time), 23 minutes and 39 seconds behind Greenwich. [25]

Netherlands

Netherlands Railway time was based on GMT until 1909 when the country adopted 'Amsterdam time' as the standard time, 19 minutes ahead of GMT. This persisted until 1940, when the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands required a shift to German time, which has continued to be the standard. [26]

Sweden

Though several private railways had been built construction of public railways in Sweden came later than most other European countries, delayed by concerns over construction costs and resistance from powerful shipping owners. Railway time was introduced on the main railway line between Stockholm and Gothenburg which opened in 1862. Timetables were based on solar time at Gothenburg, the westernmost end of the line. As a consequence passengers and businesses following local time would arrive at the station ahead of the train. There were many private railways that followed local time or their own railway time. On 1 January 1879, a national standard time was introduced across the whole of Sweden, one hour advanced of Greenwich mean time. [27]

Russia

Until 1 August 2018, Russia had a separate railway time, meaning that timetables and tickets on Russian railways followed Moscow Time regardless of local time. [28] Starting from 1 August 2018, each station uses the local timezone. [29]

India

The Indian railway companies had to contend with different local times as the rapidly expanding routes extended out from Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Lahore and Chennai (formerly Madras). Towards the end of the 1860s the situation became even more confused as the networks linked up. In 1870, to overcome the problems occurring, Chennai (Madras) time was adopted for all railways, for two reasons: the longitude of Chennai is roughly midway between those of Kolkata and Mumbai, and the Observatory there ran the telegraphic service which could be utilised to synchronise station times via the same time-signal system first used in Britain in 1852 to regulate railway time. Madras Time was popularised by its use in Newman's Indian Bradshaw Timetables. [30]

However, unlike in Britain, where railway time was rapidly adopted countrywide and evolved not long after into standard time, in India the much larger size of the country and the autonomy enjoyed by Mumbai and Kolkata resulted in both Presidencies' retaining local times well into the 20th century. For the remaining part of the 19th century Madras time continued to be used by all railways. [31]

Proposals had been put forward for at least one meridian–based time zone for India as early as 1884. However, no consensus could be reached until 1906, when a single time zone based on Allahabad was established, and a standard time was introduced, which the railways came in line with. Despite this, Kolkata kept its own time until 1948 and to a lesser extent Mumbai continued to unofficially until 1955. [32]

Korea

In 1904, during the Russio-Japanese War the Chosen Keifu Railway, a privately run company, introduced Japan Central Standard Time as its railway time instead of Korean traditional time (UTC+08:28). [33] In 1908, Chosen Keibu Railway adopted new Korean standard time (UTC+08:30).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Mean Time</span> Time zone of Western Europe, same as WET

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term "GMT" is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time zone</span> Area that observes a uniform standard time

A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.

Universal Time is a time standard based on Earth's rotation. While originally it was mean solar time at 0° longitude, precise measurements of the Sun are difficult. Therefore, UT1 is computed from a measure of the Earth's angle with respect to the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF), called the Earth Rotation Angle. UT1 is the same everywhere on Earth. UT1 is required to follow the relationship

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Meridian Conference</span> 1884 conference in Washington, D.C., United States

The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur. The subject to discuss was the choice of "a meridian to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world". It resulted in the recommendation of the Greenwich Meridian as the international standard for zero degrees longitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24-hour clock</span> Timekeeping convention

The modern 24-hour clock is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours passed since midnight, from 00(:00) to 23(:59), with 24(:00) as an option to indicate the end of the day. This system, as opposed to the 12-hour clock, is the most commonly used time notation in the world today, and is used by the international standard ISO 8601.

Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout the Republic of India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and aviation time, IST is designated E* ("Echo-Star"). It is indicated as Asia/Kolkata in the IANA time zone database.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the United States</span> Time zones in the U.S.

In the United States, time is divided into nine standard time zones covering the states, territories and other US possessions, with most of the country observing daylight saving time (DST) for approximately the spring, summer, and fall months. The time zone boundaries and DST observance are regulated by the Department of Transportation, but no single map of those existed until the agency announced intentions to make one in September 2022. Official and highly precise timekeeping services (clocks) are provided by two federal agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ; and the United States Naval Observatory (USNO). The clocks run by these services are kept synchronized with each other as well as with those of other international timekeeping organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standard time</span> Synchronization of clocks within a geographical region

Standard time is the synchronization of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the region, often near the centre of the region. Historically, standard time was established during the 19th century to aid weather forecasting and train travel. Applied globally in the 20th century, the geographical regions became time zones. The standard time in each time zone has come to be defined as an offset from Universal Time. A further offset is applied for part of the year in regions with daylight saving time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Local mean time</span> Time in astronomy

Local mean time (LMT) is a form of solar time that corrects the variations of local apparent time, forming a uniform time scale at a specific longitude. This measurement of time was used for everyday use during the 19th century before time zones were introduced beginning in the late 19th century; it still has some uses in astronomy and navigation.

Singapore Time (SGT), also known as Singapore Standard Time (SST), is used in Singapore and is 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+08:00). Singapore does not observe daylight saving time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Australia</span>

Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Central Standard Time and Australian Western Standard Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the United Kingdom</span> United Kingdom legislation

The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time (UTC+01:00).

Malaysian Standard Time or Malaysian Time (MYT) is the standard time used in Malaysia. It is 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Malaysia does not observe daylight saving time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UTC+00:00</span> Identifier for the UTC +0 offset

UTC+00:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +00:00. This time zone is the basis of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and all other time zones are based on it. In ISO 8601, an example of the associated time would be written as 2069-01-01T12:12:34+00:00. It is also known by the following geographical or historical names:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Exchange, Bristol</span> Grade I listed building in Bristol, UK

The Exchange is a Grade I listed building built in 1741–43 by John Wood the Elder, on Corn Street, near the junction with Broad Street in Bristol, England. It was previously used as a corn and general trade exchange but is now used as offices and it also accommodates St Nicholas Market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public transport timetable</span>

A public transport timetable is a document setting out information on public transport service times. Both public timetables to assist passengers with planning a trip and internal timetables to inform employees exist. Typically, the timetable will list the times when a service is scheduled to arrive at and depart from specified locations. It may show all movements at a particular location or all movements on a particular route or for a particular stop. Traditionally this information was provided in printed form, for example as a leaflet or poster. It is now also often available in a variety of electronic formats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in France</span>

Metropolitan France uses Central European Time as its standard time, and observes Central European Summer Time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. With its overseas territories, France uses 2 different time zones, more than any other country in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Ireland uses Irish Standard Time in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time in the winter period.

Time in the Kingdom of the Netherlands is denoted by Central European Time during the winter as standard time in the Netherlands, which is one hour ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+01:00), and Central European Summer Time (CEST) during the summer as daylight saving time, which is two hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00). The Caribbean Netherlands – which consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba – all observe Atlantic Standard Time (AST) year-round, which is four hours behind coordinated universal time (UTC−04:00).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Finland</span>

Finland uses Eastern European Time (EET) during the winter as standard time and Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) during the summer as daylight saving time. EET is two hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00) and EEST is three hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+03:00). Finland adopted EET on 30 April 1921, and has observed daylight saving time in its current alignment since 1981 by advancing the clock forward one hour at 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in March and back at 04:00 EET on the last Sunday in October, doing so an hour earlier for the first two years.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Standardising Time: Railways and the Electric Telegraph". Science Museum. 4 October 2018. LONDON TIME is kept at all the Stations on the Railway, which is about 4 minutes earlier than READING time; 5½ minutes before STEVENTON time; 7½ minutes before CIRENCESTER time; 8 minutes before CHIPPENHAM time; 11 minutes before BATH and BRISTOL time; and 14 minutes before BRIDGEWATER time.
  2. ↑ Smithsonian's NMAH - Anniversary Exhibition Press Release 1999 "Standard Time in America" Archived 2011-06-30 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  3. ↑ Kosambi, Meera “Bombay Time in Intersections: Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra p161 ISBN   978-81-250-1878-0 Orient Longman (2000)”- Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Davies, Peter E "History of Railway Time" Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine - Reproduced from original article on http://www.carnforth-station.co.uk/ - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  5. 1 2 Harrington, Ralph. "Trains, Technology and Time Travel - How the Victorians Reinvented Time". Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ Greenwich mean time - Railway time Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine , Accessed 14-10-2011
  7. ↑ Walker, Phil - Sundial Website "Inscription attached to Sundial - Lilleshall Shropshire, England" Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  8. ↑ Science Museum - Making of the Modern World "Railway Time co-ordinated by the Electronic Telegraph" - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  9. ↑ ICONS of England -DCMS 2007 "Stationmasters instructions issued by railway companies" Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Railway Time" . Leicester Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 26 December 1845. Retrieved 9 September 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "The Town Council of Nottingham" . Lincolnshire Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 6 March 1846. Retrieved 9 September 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ Brunel 200 Victorian Bristol: a guide to Victorian buildings in the city Brunel 200 Creative Bristol, Retrieved February 28, 2010
  13. ↑ Eleven Minutes - Lost Time Pieces Brunel 200 Legacy, Retrieved 28 February 2010
  14. ↑ Prerau, David - Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement "Standard Time Begins in Britain - Toms Tower Christ Church, Oxford" - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  15. ↑ Ilbert 2008 , p. 337
  16. ↑ Gasson, Harold (1981). Signalling Days: Final Reminiscences of a Great Western Railwayman. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 47. ISBN   0-86093-118-8.
  17. ↑ Smithsonian's NMAH - Anniversary Exhibition Press Release 1999 "Railway Accident and Standard Time in America" Archived 2011-06-30 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4
  18. 1 2 3 White Matthew, W - Wharton Business School, Univ of Pennsylvania - March 2005 "The Economics of Time Zones" Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 7
  19. ↑ Ralph R. Hamerla, 2006.An American Scientist on the Research Frontier pp 96-7 - Retrieved March 4
  20. ↑ NY Times Archive - October 10, 1883 "Railway Time Belt William (Frederick) Allen" - Retrieved March 4
  21. ↑ Smithsonian's NMAH - Anniversary Exhibition Press Release 1999 "North American Standard Time introduced 1883" Archived 2011-06-30 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4
  22. 1 2 Parmeggiani, Gianluigi - Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna "The origin of time zones" Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  23. ↑ French time set back - New York Times archive Icons-mini-file acrobat.gif
  24. ↑ Procter, Greg. "German Railway History". Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  25. ↑ BBC Northern Ireland An Idea Whose Time Had Come..Ellen Hanna Elder Retrieved April 29, 2009
  26. ↑ van Kampenl, Henk - "Timezones" - Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  27. ↑ Fröken Ur (Speaking Clock) SP Sveriges Tekniska Forskningsinstitut, Accessed 19 June 2015
  28. ↑ Russian Railways - Time tables
  29. ↑ All change: Russia's odd train time custom finally hits the buffers
  30. ↑ Greenwich2000 Limited "Indian Railway Time" Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  31. ↑ IRFC - Indian Railways Fan Club "Timekeeping and Indian Standard Time" - Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  32. ↑ Kosambi, Meera: Bombay Time in Intersections: Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra p161 ( ISBN   978-81-250-1878-0: Orient Longman, 2000)]. Retrieved March 4, 2008.
  33. ↑ 朝鮮総督府鉄道局 (Railway Bureau of Government-General of Chosen) (1915). 朝鮮鉄道史: 全 (Chosen Railway History: Complete). p. 385.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.