中国第一条运营铁路开通

·1881年建造的 “龙号”机车

清光绪六年(1880),李鸿章为了开平矿务局运煤的需要，同时从军事上考虑，认为“非铁路不能收使臂使指之效” ,于是聘请英人金达为技师，于光绪七年(1881),修建了一条从唐山矿地到胥各庄的铁路，约长11公里； 铁路宽度为4尺8寸半，是日后路轨的标准宽度。1933年定稿的《天津政俗沿革记》对此做了记载：“光绪七年，开平矿局始创，造铁路二十里，以便转运。”这是中国早期自己修造的最长的一条铁路。
但是，铁路建成后，腐朽的清朝统治者害怕机车震坏了皇陵，不准使用运行，只准用骡马拖带，使火车变成了马车，当时被人们谑称为“马车铁路” 。后来，经过一番周折，才重新获准使用机车。
光绪十二年(1886),唐山煤矿积煤日多，运煤的路程却不通畅。李鸿章又提议把唐山胥各庄铁路延伸到芦台，全长32公里，建筑费用13.5万两银； 同时，铁路脱离矿务局而另设开平铁路公司经营。不久，又建议把唐山芦台铁路续修到大沽和天津，不仅利于开平运煤，而且为北洋海防调运军队和军火之用。
转年3月，李鸿章将开平铁路公司改名为天津铁路公司 (又称津沽铁路公司) ,并且加以扩充，负责筑路工程事宜。这就是外国人所称的“中国铁路公司” ,它也是中国最早的铁路公司。李鸿章任命伍廷芳主持公司事务并兼管财务； 英国人金达为技术监督兼理事，负责铁路工程。该公司为官督商办，拟招商股100万两银，但是仅招商股10.85万两，其余大部分资金由李鸿章筹集，主要向天津海防支应局等借支银16万两，向怡和洋行及德商华泰银行借款107.6万两，总计耗资银约150万两。《天津政俗沿革记》对此也有记载： “光绪十三年，设开平铁路商局于红楼，盖纯是商办也，后因兵船运煤不便，复接造六十五里，南抵蓟河上严庄为止，此即北塘至山海关中段之路。”
光绪十四年(1888)七月，正当津唐铁路由芦台向塘沽、天津展修时，朝廷的亲德派联芳和廊昌请来德国工程师鲍尔，结果与英籍工程师金达发生争执。于是留美学生詹天佑被推荐为“中国铁路公司”工程师，他以卓越的才能，亲自出色指挥了塘沽至天津段的路轨铺设工程，仅用了80天即完成。但是，李鸿章竟将这一功绩归于洋人金达身上，中国工程师詹天佑的辛勤劳动成果，被统治者抹煞了。
同年10月，唐山到天津的铁路全线竣工，时称北洋铁路，亦即津唐铁路，并在天津的旺道庄修建了天津火车站。李鸿章率官商乘火车勘验全线工程。10月19日在车站举行了盛大的通车典礼，直隶按察史周馥奉李鸿章之命率官员出席。这是中国的第一条运营铁路。
津唐铁路通车后，李鸿章又想将这条铁路延修到通州。但是清政府没有批准。理由是： 铁路一旦通到北京，害怕外国军队从大沽登陆可以乘火车直取京城； 修筑铁路要铲坟、拆庐，滋扰民众等等。
光绪二十一年(1895),中日甲午战争之后，李鸿章再次提议将津唐铁路由天津延伸到北京。为防顽固派阻扰，这次奏请将终点站设在卢沟桥。获得朝廷允准后，于同年开始动工。
光绪二十三年(1897),京津铁路由天津延伸到丰台； 接着又通到永定门外的马家堡。并由丰台修建一条支线抵卢沟桥。同年九月五日，京津 (马家堡—天津)铁路正式通车。由此构成了以天津为中心的全国闻名的京山铁路。

·早期的天津火车站

In 1880 (the 6th year of Emperor Guangxu),LiHongzhang decided to build a railway to transport thecoal produced at the Kailuan Coal Mining Bureau andto meet military uses. He hired a British by the nameof Jinda as the engineer. In 1881,an 11-kilometre-long railway was built from Kuangdi of Tangshan toXugezhuang. Its breadth between the two rails was 1.5metres,which became the standard of railways later.In 1933,the author of Tianjin Zhengsu Yan`geji wrote,"In the 7th year of Emperor Guangxu,Kaiping CoalMining Bureau built a railway of 20 miles for the use oftransportation." This was the longest railway built by theChinese people in earlier modern China.
After the completion of the railway,the Qing rulerswere afraid that the locomotives would shake the royalmausoleum. It forbade the use of the locomotives,andmules and horses were used instead. It was ridiculousthat the railway became a carriage,and the train wascalled "carriage railway". After many setbacks,thelocomotives were permitted to use.
In 1886,the raw coal in Tangshan accumulated toa large amount but suffered from poor transportation. LiHongzhang decided to extend the Tangshan-XugezhuangRailway to Lutai. The total cost of the 32-kilometer-longrailway was 135,000 taels. The railway was managedby Kaiping Railway Company instead of Kaiping CoalMining Bureau. Later,Tangshan-Lutai Raiway wasextended to Dagu and Tianjin,to transport coal producedfrom Kaiping and ammunitions for coastal defense.
In March 1887,Governor-General Li Hong zhangchanged the name of Kaiping Railway Company toTianjin Railway Company (or Jingu Railway Company),responsible for railway construction. It was called byforeigners as the "China Railway Company",whichwas the first railway company in China. Li appointedWu Tingfang in charge of the company and its financeand British Jinda responsible for techniques of therailway construction. The company was owned by thegovernment and run by businessmen. The offer was 1million taels but the company only raised 108,500 taels.The remaining 1.5 million was borrowed by Li fromTianjin Coastal Defense Bureau (1.6 million taels) andYihe Yanghang & Huatai Bank (1.076 million taels). TheTianjin Zhengsu Yan`geji noted that "in the 13th year ofEmperor Guangxu,Kaiping Railway Company was setup in a red building. Because it was inconvenient forwarships to carry coal,the railway was extended by 65li to the south of Shangyan Village near the Jihe River.This is the railway from Beitang to Shanhaiguan."
In July 1888,Lian Fang and Langchang of QingGovernment invited Paul,a German,as the engineerand quarreled with British engineer Jinda when JintangRailway was extended to Tanggu and Tianjin,so ZhanTianyou,who had studied in the US,was recommendedas the engineer of the China Railway Company. Zhanwas excellent in leadership of the project. It took himonly 80 days to finish the construction from Tanggu toTianjin,but Governor-General Li Hongzhang later owedall these achievements toJinda. Zhan`s contributionswere ignored by the government.
In October,the railway from Tangshan to Tianjinwas finished. It was called Northern Railway or JintangRailway. The railway station was built at WangdaoVillage of Tianjin. Li Hongzhang led the officialsand businessmen to inspect the railwayinthetrain.Under Li`s order,Zhou Fu led the officials to attend theopening ceremony,which was held at the railway stationon October 19. This was the first business operation ofrailway in China.
After Jintang Railway came into operation,Li planned to extend it to Tongzhou; but the QingGovernment overruled the plan,worrying that once therailway reached Beijing,the foreign armies could landon Dagu and then occupied the capital by train. TheQing Court also worried that the construction of railwayswould shovel tombs,demolish civilian houses anddisturb the people.
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,LiHongzhang proposed again to extend Jintang Railwayto Beijing. To avoid interruption,the end of the railwaywas built at Lugou Bridge. With the approval from thecourt,the construction began.
In 1897,the Jingjin Railway was extendedfrom Tianjin to Fengtai,then to Majiabao out ofYongdingmen,and finally to Fengtai by a lateral line.On September 5,the Jingjin Railway from Majiabao toTianjin opened to traffic. This was the famous JinshanRailway with Tianjin as the center in China.

·1888年李鸿章率唐廷枢、伍廷芳等视察唐津铁路