Quoted By:
in fact, that would actually be an interesting topic to pursue: what's the first mass transit vehicle with actual rider-friendly suspension?
stagecoaches weren't a luxurious method of travel to begin with, and the earliest railways were very much 'a stagecoach but on rails' - putting developments in metalworking and metallurgy aside, i'd wager that it was only around the turn of the 20th century that long-distance travel really became anything more than 'a hardship to be endured', aided by the muscular railway companies and their PR departments.