The construction of railways was often intended to develop the regions served.

Irish and other experience shows that the routes which bring in resources and take produce to markets also make the process of outward migration easier.

New Approaches to Migration examines the dimension of these issues

The issue of transport in rural areas still produces policy challenges.

Railways and Migration

A range of sites presenting evidence of the link between railway development and migration:

• Railways and migration in England and Wales: the growth of the network 1845-1914
• Railways and migration - Canadian Prairies
• American settlers and the railway: a complaint about ticket conditions
• International migration: Chinese labour and the Union Pacific Railroad
• Tyneside, U.K.: a family history of movement and railways
• Railways, migration and urbanisation in Peru
• An account of Finnish migration and the railways

Railways and Development

Sites examining the relationship betwen transport and development:

• Railways as a communication revolution
• School history: a British view of transport and the first industrial revolution
• Migration growth and railways in Malaysia
• Migration histories and transport : an overview of migration into the United Kingdom
• Migration heritage and railways: a personal account of migration and industrial heritage
• Distance and Development: the Trans-Siberian Railway and population movement in Siberia

Conclusion

This page contributed by
Julian Hine
University of Ulster
jp.hine@ulster.ac.uk