Year	Miles of track open	Passengers carried (millions)	Freight carried (millions of tons)
1835	338	~	~
1940	1,497	~	~
1845	2,441	30.4	~
1850	6,084	67.4	~
1855	7,293	111.4	~
1860	9,069	153.5	88.4
1865	11,451	238.7	112.6
1870	13,562	322.2	~
1875	14,510	490.1	196.2
1880	15,563	596.6	231.7
1885	16,594	678.1	253.6
1890	17,281	796.3	298.8
1895	18,001	903.5	329.5
1900	18,680	1,114.6	419.8
1905	19,535	1,170.0	455.4
1910	19,986	1,276.0	507.9
1915	~	~	~
1920	20,312	1,579.0	318.1
1925	20,400	1,232.6	316.0
1930	20,265	844.3	304.3
1935	20,152	856.2	270.9
1938	20,007	848.9	264.3
Figures for quinquennial years only Source: From Mathias, P., The first industrial nation, Methuen, 1969. The first two figures are derived from Lewin, H.G., Early British Railways (1928) and The Railway Mania and its Aftermath (1936). The remainder from Mitchell, B.R., and Deane, P., Abstract of British Historical Statistics, 1962. There is a slight discrepancy between the two sets of figures: for 1845: 2530 miles (Lewin) and 2441 miles (Mitchell and Deane).