Timetables are a document setting out information on service times, to assist passengers with planning a trip. Typically, listing the times when a service is scheduled to arrive at and depart from specified locations, timetables may show all movements at a particular location or all movements on a particular route or for a particular stop. The first compilation of railway timetables in the United Kingdom was produced in 1839 by George Bradshaw. Greater speeds and the need for more accurate timings led to the introduction of standard railway time in Great Western Railway timetables in 1840, when all their trains were scheduled to "London time", i.e. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which replaced solar time. Until railway time was introduced, local times for London, Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester could differ by as much as 16 to 20 minutes; in India and North America these differences could be 60 minutes or more. Check out this selection of timetables from our collection.
