The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America’s First Subway

Boston finished the first subway transit system in the US, though New York's subway is better known. However, there were many predecessors that were needed to make it all possible. Subways systems were already in place in other places in the world. London had started an underground railway with steam power. However, the pollution involved caused problems. Advances in electric motors were a prerequisite for further expansion. In the late 1800s, most street car systems were powered by horses. Railways helped improve efficiency. However, horses were still slow. Cable cars were another alternative, and continue to be used successfully in places like San Francisco. However, cable systems have their limit and they can't cross draw bridges. Electric motors at the time had limited power. It took a series of advancements, including test runs on hills in Richmond before they were good enough to power railways. 

There were also politics. Most urban transit systems were private enterprises with entrenched interests. Alfred Beach created a pneumatic underground railway system in 1870 in New York. However, there was little political will to expand it. There was also concern that people wouldn't want to go underground. Eventually, it took the buy in of politicians, transit barons and the local populace as well as some bad weather to finally get the subway built. Boston was able to get their subway built first, though did little to celebrate it. New York, on the other hand, made a great celebration of there new system.