I think it's amazing that the technology spread to the US so fast, especially in those days.

The UK actually suffers for having been the pioneer in the railways, as we're hamstrung by having much of that ancient infrastructure still in existence. We didn't, for example, undergo a five year intensive remodelling program in the 1940s, as Europe did.

Many of those original 19th century tunnels on the London Underground are still in use today. The rolling stock, the signalling systems, the rails, the platform detailing will be newer, but the tunnels themselves are original.