The George Stephenson Mantel Clock

How did the railways change time? Railway travel revolutionised our attitude towards time. Before the railway spread across the UK, different parts of the country operated on slightly different time zones. So, Bristol was ten minutes behind London time for example. When travel was by horse along slow roads, travellers could adjust their watches along the journey, but these discrepancies caused problems and even accidents with railway timetables. If you are catching the 2.30 from Edinburgh, is that 2.30 Edinburgh time or 2.30 London time?  So, time had to be standardised, not just in the UK, but everywhere that built railways and in the UK that started in 1840 on the Great Western Railway with others following suit within the next two to three years. Clocks were fitted to stations to help passengers and operators use the standardised time and eventually local time zones were forgotten.