High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830 covers the period up to the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world`s first intercity passenger railway operated solely by steam locomotives. The earliest form of railways, horse-drawn wagonways, originated in Germany in the 16th century. However, the first use of steam locomotives was in Britain. The invention of wrought iron rails, together with Richard Trevithick`s pioneering steam locomotive meant that Britain had the first true railways in the world.