This three-part documentary follows Dan Snow as he explores
how Britain invented the railways and changed the world.
The first episode
looks at the pioneering visionaries who built the first steam-drawn passenger
railway in the world, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
He looks at the
engineering challenges that had to be surmounted, including the famous crossing
of Chat Moss.
The next instalment studies the mania for building new lines that
followed in the years after the L&MR’s successful opening and the fortunes
that were made and lost in the railway bubble.
The final programme examines the
increasing need for regulation of safety on the lines as the rush for profit
saw corners being cut and tragedy always lurking in the wings.