On the morning of September 27, 1825, the world’s first passenger and goods steam engine pulled away from a coal pit in Witton Park. 

 ‘…a horse on an iron road would draw ten tons for one ton on a common road’ and would be worth ‘fifty horses’. 
The Stockton & Darlington Railway – Tees Valley Museums

Stockton and Darlington Railway – Stephenson’s Locomotion
Issued by Royal Mail in 1975
Part of the150th Anniv of Public Railways series
Designer: Brian Craker

The trip included a two stops, the first at St Helen Auckland to pick up a load of flour and then Shildon, to allow around 600 eager passengers (only 300 had purchased the required tickets) to fill 21 open coal cars refitted with seats and one special passenger car called the Experiment. The journey that took 8 hours and 26 minutes and covered 42 km. The great inventor George Stephenson, driving Locomotive 1 himself, pulled into Stockton to great applause to an estimated 10,000 onlookers.  

On 27 September 1825 a small steam locomotive coupled up to a train at Shildon in County Durham. There were officially around 300 ticket holders but many more—possibly twice as much again—had jumped on board. As the train headed eastwards to the port of Stockton, huge crowds gathered to watch its progress. This was a momentous day indeed for this was the first steam-hauled passenger train on a public railway, a journey that would change the world forever.
Shildon, the Cradle of the Railways and Locomotion No.1 – National Railway Museum blog

This small engine sparked a revolution in how people and goods moved, ushering in the golden age of transportation. 

The Stockton & Darlington Railway – Tees Valley Museums

Stockton and Darlington Railway: What’s so special about a 200-year-old railway? (bbc.com)