‘Decision-making Processes’ in English Railway Development circa 1850-75: A Non-linear History?

This study will explore the decisions made concerning development of a large infrastructure project of the nineteenth century - the British railway network - by considering why and how the system developed and, using a range of socio-material concepts, whether (and how) things might have been different. It will seek to understand the decision-making processes and other factors that determined the outcome of railways proposed during the third-quarter of the nineteenth century. This is important because these decisions helped to establish the foundations of Britain’s modern rail network. This study will explore the mechanisms that led to the creation of this transport network, with a focus on cross-country railway routes promoted in the English counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Through this socio-technical investigation I will seek to understand the decision-making processes and other factors that determined whether mid-nineteenth century railway projects would come to fruition, creating lines of mobility for people and goods, and shaping (and being shaped by) the environment. The study is driven by a desire to better understand why the railway network looks and operates the way that it does, with some communities and commodities better served than others. I will be examining who was involved in promoting railways, what their options were, and where power to act resided.