The Railway 24/7

Commercial director Darren launches a new scheme to tackle passengers not paying for tickets with on-the-spot fines and penalties. Meanwhile, passengers raise the alarm about an abandoned black rucksack on the Huddersfield to Manchester route, and in the maintenance depot, Carl and Steve are replacing a five-tonne bogie, the structure that connects the wheels to the carriages.

Officers confront a group of young people who are dangerously close to a high-speed railway line, yet despite their warnings, British Transport Police officers Be and Kayleigh worry that they are not getting the message. Meanwhile in Ardwick train depot, a Class 185 has a cracked manifold, and engineer Steve has to drain off hundreds of litres of toxic coolant from the train before he can get at the damaged component.

British Transport Police launch a sting operation in Hull to disrupt county lines drug dealing on the network, while officers use a knife arch at Manchester Piccadilly to stop anyone from carrying an offensive weapon. Would-be driver Matt faces the dreaded simulator, with instructor Rob planning to test his mettle with a perfect storm of bad weather, trees on the line and passengers pulling the alarm cord.

As coronavirus spreads across Europe, passengers start to abandon the country's railways, and bosses at Manchester HQ call an emergency meeting to discuss the impact the pandemic will have on their services, and how they can keep trains running for the sake of key workers. As the UK lockdown begins, passenger numbers plummet by 95% and revenue falls at an alarming rate.