Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo: On Track to Victory

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 Belgium uncovering railway stories from the Great War. At Bristol's Temple Meads station he hears a first-hand account from the front line, then in Yorkshire discovers how women took over railwaymen's roles and began literally to wear the trousers. He finds out about the extraordinary exploits of Belgian trainspotters who spied on enemy rail movements and hears how the end of the war also marked the decline of the railways. episode 4