From the first public railway to high-speed rail transport. The 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, England, and the 12th World Congress on High-Speed Rail 2025 in Beijing

On September 27, 1825, the world’s first public railway, Stockton and Darlington, was opened in England, marking the beginning of railway transport, the current technical and technological achievements of which are largely embodied by high-speed railways. In July 2025, the 12th World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Beijing noted the continuity of the history of railway transport, from the first railways to high-speed railway lines, and discussed the prospects for their development. The first congress on high-speed rail was held in Brussels in 1992. Since then, the congresses, which are held by the International Union of Railways (UIC) every 2–3 years, have become a traditional forum for representatives of government and public organizations from different countries, railway companies, scientific and design institutes, manufacturers of rolling stock and other railway equipment, as well as universities engaged in the training of professionals for the transport industry. The purpose of the meetings is to review the implemented projects and make proposals for the development of high–speed services — a particularly important segment of railway transport. Igor Kiselev, a railway engineer, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Emeritus of Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University (PGUPS), and Chief Scientific Editor of the BRICS Transport Journal, talks about the history of railways and the congress held in Beijing. In the light of the implementation of the first St. Petersburg–Moscow high-speed railway project in Russia, the results of the congress are of great interest to those engaged in railway transport, as well as employees of research organizations and specialized higher educational institutions.

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