Not only did the railroads transport raw materials used in industrial production, such as coal and iron ore, the railroads were also one of the largest consumers of raw materials in their own right. The growth of railroads thus led to growth in other industries, such as timber and coal.

The introduction of the railway was the most transformative element of the Industrial Revolution, offering unprecedented speed, capacity, and reliability. Before trains, goods were moved by slow canal boats or horse-drawn wagons, which were limited by weather and geography. Steam-powered trains allowed for the mass transport of heavy raw materials like coal and iron directly to factories at a fraction of the cost. This dramatically lowered production costs and accelerated industrialization. Socially, the "railway mania" of the mid-19th century collapsed distances; a journey from London to Manchester was reduced from four days to just eight hours. This enabled a mobile labor force, the creation of a national postal service, and the synchronization of time (Standard Railway Time). By the late 1800s, the ability for a single train to carry 20 times the cargo of a canal boat—and do so eight times faster—cemented the railway as the backbone of the modern global economy.