Ian Hislop's Trains That Changed the World

How the British Empire built railways to rule the world.

The Industrial Revolution was the single most important event in the development of the modern railway and one train from that era came to symbolise the new age of steam, Stephenson's Rocket. Cameras reveal the revolutionary design of the Rocket, and how it transformed Britain's economy, from localised rural industries to the global networks we recognise today.

Cameras explore the Great Western Railway to experience a journey of a bygone age. The magnificent Pullman service continues to offer passengers a Silver service restaurant menu as it whisks passengers to coastal resorts that were established in the Victorian era. Queen Victoria was a driving force behind the mass appeal of rail travel that developed in the 19th century. There's a look around Victoria's royal train, which has been preserved in all its finery.