Episodes

1. Power and Empire: The Great Arteries

One of the great advances of the 19th Century, the railways were a tool of empire. How did the Victorians use them to expand their influence?

2. The Great Workhorses: Trains That Move Loads

From the Channel Tunnel to carrying iron ore in the Australian Outback, experts discuss the history and the future of freight trains.

3. Express Trains That Link Cities

Intended as an efficient, economical way of moving freight, the emergence of express trains revolutionised society with the demand for fast travel.

4. The Commute: Trains That Make Cities

The world's 10 busiest metro systems carry more than 22 billion passengers every year. How has the train shaped cities - and changed the world?

5. Trains and War: Weapons and Logistics

As weapons and transport, trains transformed the battlefield - from huge railway guns and hospital trains to those taking victims to death camps.

6. The Love of Trains: Power, Prestige and Romance

Trains have changed the way people see the world - and each other. What is it that makes them so special?

Overview

The invention of trains transformed everything about how humans lived. From the movement of goods and population, the design of cities, to conquest and warfare, there are few aspects of civilization that were left untouched by these machines.

Details

Cast

Kevin Spink