I’m joggling across Rajasthan in a train and I’m sitting in a third-class compartment which actually is terrific, apart from the slightly shonky windows, it’s fabulous, it’s got three layers of seats, and you get two sheets and a pillow to lie down … what’s not to like. Joanna Lumley’s India s1e3, ITV 2017
Today Delhi is clearly somewhere you can make it. Its population is exploding. And £280 million is being spent on a new monorail system. ibid.
A daring thief [Edward Mongon] and his elite gang steal millions in freight. Masterminds s2e16: The ConRail Boyz, History 2005
He was the greatest train robber America had ever seen. ibid.
The Intercity 125: a British design classic. It still holds the world speed record for diesel. Each of these high speed trains has clocked up more than nine million miles; that’s nineteen trips to the moon and back. After more than forty years the 125s are now being replaced by newer foreign models. Intercity 125: The Train that Saved Britain’s Railways, Channel 5 2018
This shining beacon of British engineering genius … It’s a homegrown hero with a secret history. ibid.
It ended up saving Britain’s railways. ibid.
On June 12 1973 the 125 prototype was on the test track. ibid.
Every day’s a grind. If it begins to feel like a countdown – this way in the morning, that way at night – then one day it’s done with: Life. The Commuter 2018 starring Liam Neeson & Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson & Jonathan Banks & Sam Neill & Elizabeth McGovern & Killian Scott & Shazad Latif & Andy Nyman & Clara Lago et al, director Jaume Collet-Serra, bloke on train to Michael
You can save a witness or your family. ibid. bad lady
This employee will be held accountable. Unstoppable 2010 starring Denzel Washington & Chris Pine & Rosario Dawson & Kevin Dunn & Ethan Suplee & Lew Temple & Kevin Chapman & T J Miller & Jessy Schram et al, director Tony Scott, television news
We’re talking about a missile the size of the Chrysler Building. ibid. Miss Hooper
For over 200 years trains have changed our lives. They reshaped our towns and cities with literally ground-breaking engineering. Inventions like The Rocket powered Britain’s industrial revolution and helped build an empire. They ushered in an age of leisure tourism and luxury travel that we still enjoy today. Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World, Channel 5 2021
Britain became addicted to speed obsessed with moving people and goods faster and faster. ibid.
The Flying Scotsman, the most famous locomotive of all time, running non-stop along the 393-mile route it cut the journey time between London and Edinburgh to just over 8 hours. ibid.
Mallard: Its sleek curvy look announced a new era in high-speed train design. ibid.
The [US] Zephyr was the first of the diesel-powered stream-liners. ibid.
Transporting millions of people every day. Inspiring classic creations of design. And now building a new multi-billion-pound network. Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World II
Today, London is home to the largest construction project in Europe: Crossrail. Digging up over three million tons of earth; creating more than 26 miles of new tunnels. It’s building what will become the Elizabeth line. ibid.
So people were wading through the slurry to get to work. Dodging the carts and carriages; navigating the streets was daunting … Railways engineers were asked for a solution … A radical idea: to run trains under the streets. ibid.
On 9th January 1863 in true Victorian style, a grand banquet of worthies was held in Farringdon Station to mark the official opening. ibid.
Metroland became somewhere for people to aspire to live. Guide books were produced advertising it … This idea of the suburban life was suddenly within reach. ibid.
Nowhere in the world has been transformed because of it [railways] quite so much as Mumbai … one of the busiest commuter train systems in the world … The most severe overcrowding of any rail system in the world … One of the most dangerous in the world. ibid.
The biggest and busiest rail freight port in the UK is Felixstowe on the east coast of Sussex. More than four million units are handled here every year, with sixty-six trains a day each hauling over two thousand tons of goods all over the country. Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World III
America has the largest rail network in the world. With more than 150,000 miles of track; that’s enough to go round the Earth six times. ibid.
At the start of the twentieth century, 45 years after the death of Brunel, the Great Western had a problem: passenger numbers on the Great Western mainline were stagnating. And investors were getting nervous … The holiday express was born. Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World IV
In the 25 years since the Channel Tunnel opened, UK passenger numbers have more than doubled. ibid.
1998: The German Intercity Express is one of the fastest trains in the world renowned for its comfort, luxury and safety. Until it veers off the track and crashes at 125 mph. 101 people perish in the 3 minutes in the world’s worst high-speed train crash. Seconds from Disaster s1e5: Derailment at Eschede, National Geographic 2004
A huge shard of metal sticking through the floor of Coach 1 … At 125 mph ICE 1884 [Wilhem Konrad Rontgen] derails and hurtles toward the road bridge … More than 400 passengers are on the crashed ICE. ibid.
Could these damaged railway tracks four miles before the accident site really be linked to the cause of the disaster? ibid.
Closer examination of the wheels leads to a breakthrough discovery: one of them is seriously damaged and its steel rim has broken away … It smashes up through the carriage floor. ibid.
The Sunset Limited, part of Amtrak’s fleet, is America’s first coast to coast train. This double-decker super-liner combines the luxury of the past with high-tech innovation. But it’s barrelling into the night toward a boat lost on a foggy river. In just eight minutes the fate of 47 passengers and crew will be sealed in one of the worst train disasters in American history. Seconds from Disaster s1e6: Wreck of the Sunset Limited
November 11th 2000: A high-tech mountain railway speeding skiers to the south. But on the opening day of the season the new train erupts into a fiery inferno. 155 people perish in 9 minutes. Seconds from Disaster s1e9: Fire on the Ski Slope
161 passengers are spread through the train … ‘The first unusual thing I noticed was the smoke’ … There are no smoke alarms … 600 metres into the dark tunnel the train suddenly stops … No emergency door release … Flames from the empty attendant’s cab burst into the apartment ... ibid.
Of the 149 passengers trapped in the train not one survived. ibid.
Central Paris Railway Station at the height of the rush hour. Thousands of passengers head for home. Suddenly, a runaway train hurtles towards the station. 307 tons of crashing metal slam into a packed commuter train. 56 people die. It’s Paris’s worst ever train crash. Seconds from Disaster s2e11: Paris Train Crash, National Geographic 2005
London, Rush Hour, a train leaves Paddington station. Another train approaches. When two commuter trains collide investigators must discover what went wrong in the UK’s worst rail disaster in a decade. Seconds from Disaster s4e3: Paddington Train Disaster, National Geographic 2011
They collide at a combined speed of over 200 kph. ibid.
31 people are dead; and more than 400 injured. ibid.
The automatic warning system has an inherent design flaw. ibid.
A difficult signal for a driver to see clearly. ibid.
Rush hour, Osaka, Japan. A Monday morning. A commuter train is carrying hundreds of people to work. Anxious over connections, many of the passengers are unaware this will be their last journey until it’s too late. Seconds from Disaster s6e7: Runaway Train, National Geographic 2012
It hurtles past the platform at 120 km per hour. As the train approaches the next station, Itami, an alarm activates inside the driver’s cab. Rapid Train 5418M is over the speed limit … The train has overshot the platform by the length of more than three carriages … The train hurtles towards Amagasaki station … ‘There was a bang and everything flipped over.’ ibid.
The Amagasaki disaster leaves 562 injured and 107 dead, with 99 of the fatalities in the front two carriages.
The culture within the train company many have been a contributing cause of this accident. ibid.
The trouble with trains … what next for the railways? … Passengers are being welcomed back, but from March we’re going to have to pay more for the pleasure because fairs are about to go up, all hot on the heels of billions in taxpayer subsidies. Is it worth it? Tonight: The True Cost of Train Travel, ITV 2022
[George] Stephenson’s machine [Rocket] was the biggest news of its age. Andrew Marr’s History of the World VII: Age of Industry, BBC 2012