10.8

On the Dot

The railways not only expedited travel; they also necessitated precise time. The latter became clear on 12 August 1853 in Village Falls (US), where two trains collided because the conductor had set his watch incorrectly.

The railway companies would coordinate their timetables according to their capital city or their headquarters. In border cities, this practise could cause confusion. For example, up until 1886, the clock tower in Geneva displayed three different times: the French and the Swiss railway time as well as the local time of Geneva.

These discrepancies were only a matter of minutes. Elsewhere, however, the division of time was in utter disarray. In the Ottoman Empire the new day traditionally began shortly after sunset. With the introduction of the railway, Western time came to the region as well, which led to considerable perplexity.
The railway heralded the introduction of uniform national times. It became the essence of punctuality and reliability.