Portillo's Greatest Railway Journeys

Michael explores how politics, domestic and international, have shaped the railways. He recalls the political decisions which green lit the great North American transcontinental railways.

Michael Portillo looks at how railways gave birth to modern tourism. The first railway companies were quick to spot a business opportunity, as was George Bradshaw, who quickly published his descriptive guidebooks.

Michael examines how railways have shaped the world economy. He recalls how the first tracks were laid to shift coal and iron ore, using animals or winches, long before locomotives were invented.

Michael Portillo explores how railways have contributed to the creation of countries, linking people across deserts and mountains and binding together different ethnicities and religions.

Michael explores how railways enabled the dissemination of cultural, social, religious and political ideas, and celebrates the cultures which his antique Bradshaw's railway guidebook has introduced him to.

The invention of railways coincided with the period of European colonisation. A look at how the Europeans used railways to further their imperial ambitions in other parts of the world.