Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo: A Railway War Begins

Michael Portillo examines the role of the railways in World War I. He finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. Michael travels through Britain and northern Europe uncovering railway stories from the Great War. He begins his journey in the French city of Metz on European tracks built with war in mind, charts the birth of the railway war at a small station in Luxembourg, and discovers how Britain's railways coped with the challenge of sending thousands of troops to join the conflict from Southampton. Finally, he returns to France to learn how the early war of movement gave way to the stalemate of the trenches. episode 1