ABSTRACT
From the 1880s onwards railways strengthened their function in the suburban areas of the large European cities. In Britain the Cheap Train Act of 1883 marked a change in the use of suburban railways among the working class. The creation of workmen's fares in France in 1883 modified the function of the railway in the Parisian metropolitan area. Railways had previously served the suburban tourism of the Parisian middle classes. The electrification of tramway networks substantially increased urban mobility at the beginning of the 20th century. The tramway promised a new era thanks to reductions in fares and increases in speed, particularly when the management of the new companies was put under public control. In Vienna the tramway was the most important means of transport. In Germany prices were higher than elsewhere, but since wages were too the use of tramways was quite widespread.
