Railways were introduced in England in the seventeenth century as a way to reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first North American gravity road, as it was called, was erected in 1764 for military purposes at the Niagara portage in Lewiston, New York.

The history of railroad tracks spans several millennia, though the modern steel rails we recognize today are roughly 160 to 200 years old. The earliest known "tracks" date back to 3838 BC in England (the Post Track), which were wooden walkways through marshes. More sophisticated "wagonways" with wooden rails and stone grooves, like the Greek Diolkos, appeared in the 6th century BC. Iron plates were added to wooden rails in the 1760s to reduce friction, but the "modern" era truly began in the early 19th century. Wrought-iron rails were introduced around 1820, famously used by George Stephenson. However, it wasn't until the 1860s that the Bessemer process allowed for the mass production of steel rails. These were exponentially stronger than iron and established the global standard for the 1,435 mm "standard gauge" tracks that still carry the world's high-speed and freight trains in 2026.