railway time

noun

A standardized time arrangement formerly used by railways to overcome the confusion caused by varying local times at different stations.

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Meanings

nounrailway time (uncountable)
  1. historicaluncountableA standardized time arrangement formerly used by railways to overcome the confusion caused by varying local times at different stations.

    The disparate time zones of Britain were unified under 'railway time' - as Dickens famously observed in Dombey: 'It was if the sun itself had given in.'

    2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 15
Cite this entry
APA

railway time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/railway%20time

MLA

“railway time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/railway%20time. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “railway time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/railway%20time.

Source: railway time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.