Editing Rail transport (section)

====Modernization====
Historically, railways have been considered central to modernity and ideas of progress.<ref>Schivelbusch, G. (1986) The Railway Journey: Industrialization and Perception of Time and Space in the 19th Century. Oxford: Berg.</ref> The process of modernization in the 19th century involved a transition from a spatially oriented world to a time-oriented world. Timekeeping became of heightened importance, resulting in clock towers for railway stations, clocks in public places, and pocket watches for railway workers and travellers. Trains followed exact schedules and never left early, whereas in the premodern era, passenger ships left whenever the captain had enough passengers. In the premodern era, local time was set at noon, when the sun was at its highest; this changed with the introduction of standard [[time zone]]s. Printed timetables were a convenience for travellers, but more elaborate timetables, called [[Train order operation|train orders]], were essential for train crews, the maintenance workers, the station personnel, and for the repair and maintenance crews. The structure of railway timetables were later adapted for different uses, such as schedules for buses, ferries, and airplanes, for radio and television programmes, for school schedules, and for factory time clocks.<ref>Tony Judt, ''When the Facts Change: Essays 1995–2010'' (2015) pp. 287–288.</ref>

The invention of the [[electrical telegraph]] in the early 19th century also was crucial for the development and operation of railroad networks. If bad weather disrupted the system, telegraphers relayed immediate corrections and updates throughout the system. Additionally, most railroads were single-track, with [[passing loop|sidings]] and signals to allow lower priority trains to be sidetracked and have scheduled meets.