The railway transformed the way people lived. For journeys long or short, fast or slow, it was the great connector. It changed towns and cities and the way people travelled to work. It helped to create ‘suburbia’, and in doing so gave birth to a whole new way of life. Unfortunately, the railway declined when challenged by new methods of transport, and the car now dominates our towns and cities. But with entire communities blighted by gridlock and pollution, the railway is experiencing a revival. Progress is slow, however, as political decisions and technologies from earlier eras continue to shape the transport solutions of the future. This topic examines the emergence of suburban living, the effects on the railway of competition from road transport, and the inevitable congestion and gridlock that has occurred as we have abandoned – or been abandoned by – the railway.