Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.
Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.
Series telling the story of the architects, engineers and spin doctors who entered a frantic two year race to make the Royal Opening of St Pancras on time.
Following an elite crew of workers-- brakemen, engineers, construction crews, mechanics and train drivers – Railroad Alaska illustrates the battle against ferocious weather and treacherous terrain to keep the State of Alaska’s critical 500-mile long railroad rolling to deliver life sustaining supplies. From controlled avalanches to prevent catastrophe, to fascinating characters, like Jim James, the one-handed handy man, learn what it takes to keep this train on track.
Des trains pas comme les autres
A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.
The mere mention of the Orient Express brings to mind evocative images of opulent carriages, stylish passengers and thrilling destinations all wrapped up in the romance of train travel. Jonathan Phang, a self-confessed bon viveur with a passion for gastronomy, feels the allure of old world glamour and sets off on a gourmet journey crossing continents aboard some of the world’s most elegant trains. Along the way he stops off in extraordinary culinary destinations, such as Venice, Paris and Istanbul to explore some modern fine dining. However, it is aboard the fabulous trains that Jonathan truly tests the old adage that sometimes it can be better to travel than to arrive.
Spektakuläre Bergbahnen der Schweiz
Intercity 125 – Britain's own original high-speed train – rules the rails today, but this national icon is set to give way to hi-tech imports. It's time to celebrate the heroic story of a design classic that saved Britain's railways from terminal decline.
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
British comedian and travel enthusiast Griff Rhys Jones hops on some of Australia's most impressive long distance trains, travelling across the expansive outback and along spectacular coastlines.
Covering thousands of miles, Sir Tony Robinson takes a whirlwind journey around the globe by train.
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.
Series about striking railways in the world. Each episode travels along a number of special locations, where the train serves as a guide and there is also attention for the landscape and culture.
Michael Portillo examines the role of the railways in World War I and travels through Britain and Europe uncovering stories from the Great War.
The railway age in the Austrian Empire began with the construction of the horse-drawn railway from Linz to Budweis. Plans soon followed to connect the imperial capital of Vienna with the iron and coal deposits in northern Moravia and with the port city of Trieste. In 1837 the Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn was opened, in 1857 the Semmeringbahn planned by Karl Ritter von Ghega, overcoming one of the most difficult obstacles on the way to the Adriatic. The crossing of the Alps by train, such as over the Arlberg or the Brenner, is still considered a unique engineering masterpiece. The expansion of the railway network brought epochal changes. Goods and people circulated on an unprecedented scale – life accelerated. It had succeeded in connecting the northern crown lands such as Silesia or Bohemia and Moravia with Carinthia, Tyrol or the coastal region.
Climb up on the footplate and join historian and host Dan Cruickshank for a railway adventure like no other as he investigates how trains helped shape modern Britain. This three-part series resurrects an exhilarating age and kicks off by focusing on the railways' role in defeating Hitler, before unearthing the incredible engineering achievements of Isambard Brunel and embarking on a trip on the earliest steam engines.
Michael Portillo is in Southeast Asia, armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook. It will lead him on a spectacular 2,500-mile railway adventure across six countries. He explores towering megacities and magnificent mosques.
The stories behind the iconic structures and engineering feats that have shaped and defined our nation and our world.
A 4-part documentary series capturing the compelling story of James J. Hill and the Great Northern Railway.