This series consists of correspondence and papers of the Board of Trade Railway Department, 1840 to 1846 and 1851 to 1919, the Railway Commissioners, 1846 to 1851, the Railways Divisions of the Ministry of Transport for the periods 1919 to 1941, 1946 to 1953, and 1959 to 1966, the Ministry of War Transport, 1941-1946, and of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, 1953-1959.

The papers relate to the peacetime regulation and wartime control of railways, to railway owned canals, tramways, underground railways and related services and to the central direction of wartime transport. The series includes bill papers and some associated plans.