In the 1830s a journey between London and Edinburgh took days in an uncomfortable stagecoach. By the 1850s it took a single train under twelve hours. Connection to the rest of the country meant towns, cities, and regions boomed. Tourism, trade, and family life were transformed. Among many other impacts, it created the need for a standardized national time to make sense of the timetables. And it was all done thanks to a relentless thirst for profit.
