The railways were a revolutionary method of travel at this time because no one thought that it was physically possible to travel at the speed the railways were now travelling at. The railway was a new way of travelling so the population of Britain became interested in it. The railways spread so quickly because of a number of things:.
The main reason that the railways spread so quickly was the profit motive, and the financial rewards that came with the railways. There were a lot of people and businesses that saw how much money they could make. The food and retail industry realised that they could now transport more perishable goods further around the country, which meant that there was a wider market for the goods. The food and retail industry wanted the railways to spread because it meant that they could make more money. The railways made a lot of money for a lot of people, and the money that the people made would probably get reinvested back into the railway business, which meant that the railways would spread because they had more money to spend maintaining the existing railway and building new lines of track. Lots of other industries were in favour of the railways, which made the network grow so quickly because lots of industries were putting business their way. With the money that the businesses are giving to the railway companies, the owners pumped more money into the preservation of the railways. The fact that a lot of people were reinvesting money into the railway network helped it spread because so many people became interested in the new method of transport.
Entrepreneurs helped the railways spread quickly because the powerful magnates, such as George Hudson campaigned to get more track built. Hudson became known as the "Railway King" because of all his campaigning. The entrepreneurs saw the financial possibilities of the railways spreading they were behind it. The entrepreneurs" reinvested money back in to the railways, which meant that the network would spread quickly.