1798 - Sweden’s First Above-Ground Railway

As coal mining in Höganäs, southern Sweden, gathered pace towards the end of the 18th century, the need for efficient transport increased. In 1798, Thomas Stawford from Durham in north-east England was invited to oversee the mining operations. To facilitate internal transport, he commissioned Sweden’s first above-ground railway. The tracks carried loaded coal wagons from the mine shafts down to the harbour, right out onto a jetty, where the coal was transferred onto ships for onward transport. Similar track and harbour systems connecting coal mines to waterways were already established in England – but in Sweden, this was entirely new.