Trains That Changed the World

2018
Ended
Documentary
1 season

This series looks at the iconic trains that have done the most to change history. Each train is an engineering marvel, each one a leap forward in the history of trains and railways. But more than this, these are the trains that made the modern world. These are the trains that unify nations and open up continents, that miraculously shrink distance and create a global economy, changing how we trade, what we buy and make and sell. They change how we live and even how we think, speeding up our lives and expanding our horizons. These are the machines that made us modern. Each episode features one iconic train and describes its impact on railway history and on history in general, combining archive and expert testimony with actuality and hands-on engineering demonstrations.

All seasons

Latest: Season 1 · 2018

View all seasons

E1. First Impact
Oct 17, 2018
The stories behind the most important trains in history and their impact on the world, beginning with a look at the first locomotives during the Industrial Revolution.
E2. Age of Freedom
Oct 24, 2018
The railroads ended slavery in the USA, but trains can be agents of oppression too. The British Empire built railways to rule the world, enabling it to control the empire.
E3. Brave New World
Oct 31, 2018
The steam train reached its zenith in the Old World, and in the New World, trains like the Burlington Zephyr were part of the race for modernity
E4. Metal Monsters
Nov 7, 2018
Advanced freight trains can haul the weight of 170 Boeing 747s across thousands of miles. The freight train is the leviathan that keeps the world on track.
E5. World on the Move
Nov 14, 2018
As travelling between cities became easier, crossing them was impossible. The solution was steam train that ran under the city - the London Underground.
E6. The Supertrains
Nov 21, 2018
China is the champion of high-speed rail and 75 million people now live within an hour's commute of Shanghai - more than the entire population of the UK.