Trains That Changed the World

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.

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.

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

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.

As travelling between cities became easier, crossing them was impossible. The solution was steam train that ran under the city - the London Underground.

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.