Dan Snow looks at the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution. Rapid industrial growth, coupled with the prospect of vast profits, drove inventors and entrepreneurs to develop steam locomotives and metal tracks.

In the late 1830s the railways arrived in London and linked the capital to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. This was the start of a truly national network and one of the greatest civil engineering projects in history.

Railways influenced working conditions for employees, provided valuable exports across the globe and even changed warfare.