History Of The UK’s Railways (5 Before & After Gifs)

The UK has a rich history when it comes to rail travel. In 1832 it became clear that Bristol needed to be connected to London. A group of businessmen got together and turned to one of Britain’s greatest engineers, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The go-ahead was given in 1835 and the story of the Great Western Railway began.

Moving with the times, GWR’s railways have seen the introduction of electrification across the network and existing lines have been extended to new destinations, leading to a few grand openings from the Queen herself! Most recent improvements included significant station redevelopments such as Reading and a sleek new fleet of trains replacing those from the 1970s. To celebrate the unique history of this iconic railway system GWR has produced 5 GIFs that look at how these train stations used to look when compared to today. You can see their history change before your eyes below.

More info: gwr.com