Live from Darlington

Saturday 27 September 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, when George Stephenson drove Locomotion No. 1 on its inaugural journey from Shildon to Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, to great fanfare. The 26-mile journey was a landmark moment in public transport and the springboard for the great Victorian age of the railways, transforming how the world traded, travelled, and communicated.

Anchored by resident train enthusiast Petroc Trelawny, Radio 3 is celebrating this historic occasion by travelling from Inverness to London on the Highland and East Coast Main Lines, aboard the Highland Chieftain, one of the longest direct train journeys in the UK.

Over the course of the eight-hour, 581-mile journey, Petroc will provide updates from the train as it speeds south. He’ll be joined by fellow Radio 3 presenters at stations along the route, including Tom Service at Pitlochry, Tom McKinney at Edinburgh Waverley, Elizabeth Alker at Darlington and Georgia Mann at King’s Cross.

The train arrives in Darlington - the place where it all began on 27 September 1825 with the inauguration of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
Elizabeth Alker presents live from the station, joined by the Championship Section NASUWT Riverside Band and live guests Railway 200's Alan Hyde, and Leona White-Hannant, development director of the Hopetown Darlington Museum, to bring that first journey to life and to explore the impact it had on the area and the world beyond. Plus, Elizabeth features one of Radio 2's specially commissioned tracks for 21st Century Folk celebrating the 200th anniversary of the railways.

And throughout the show, live updates from Petroc Trelawny as he continues on his day-long train journey from Inverness to London.