Season 1

Michael explores how politics, domestic and international, have shaped the railways. He recalls the political decisions which green lit the great North American transcontinental railways.

Michael Portillo celebrates over a decade of railway adventures across the world. In this episode, he looks at how railways gave birth to modern tourism. The first railway companies were quick to spot a business opportunity, as was George Bradshaw, who quickly published his descriptive guidebooks, whetting the appetites of thousands less wealthy than the aristocracy for travel.

Michael examines how railways have shaped the world economy. He recalls how the first tracks were laid to shift coal and iron ore, using animals or winches, long before locomotives were invented.

Michael Portillo explores how railways have contributed to the creation of countries, linking people across deserts and mountains and binding together different ethnicities and religions.

Michael explores how railways enabled the dissemination of cultural, social, religious and political ideas.

The invention of railways less than 200 years ago coincided with the colonization by Europeans of vast swathes of the world.

Michael Portillo has travelled thousands of miles across five continents and through two centuries of history aboard some of the world's most exhilarating and spectacular railways.

Michael returns to the cradle of the Railways, Rainhill, a little town not far from Liverpool in the northwest of England, where in 1829,a competition was held to discover the most improved engine.

Michael looks back at notorious crimes on the railways during the times of his Bradshaw's and Appleton's Guides and delves into the history of skullduggery by the owners of North American railroads.

Michael reflects on 180 years of royal fascination with the railways. He recalls King George V and Queen Mary's Royal Train Tour in 1913 to the calm the militant north of England.