Railway 200, the national bicentenary celebration of the modern railway, has officially become the largest rail festival in history. Engaging millions of people across 180 countries, the campaign has inspired over 10,000 activities and events attended by hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts and families.
The celebrations kicked off on New Year’s Day with a global "Whistle-Up" of 200 locomotives – the largest heritage rail mass participation event ever recorded. Since then, the momentum has only grown, with Alstom’s Derby festival drawing 42,000 visitors and a further 100,000 flocking to Shildon, the "cradle of the railways," for the S&DR200 festival in the North East.
While the bicentenary looks back at 200 years of history, its primary focus is the future of the industry. So far, Railway 200 has:
- Inspired the Next Generation: Encouraged 100,000 young people to consider careers within the rail sector.
- The "Inspiration" Train: A dedicated exhibition train is currently touring Britain until the end of June. It has already welcomed 60,000 visitors with a stellar 9/10 recommendation rating.
- Educational Impact: The Railway 200 website now hosts the industry’s largest online educational resource, with over a million page views.
The campaign’s success was cemented recently when it received the Outstanding Contribution to Tourism award from VisitEngland. The celebration was further immortalised through commemorative coins from The Royal Mint, a Royal Mail stamp collection, and a specially commissioned poem by the Poet Laureate.
Emma Roberts, Railway 200’s Programme Manager, said:
“By any measure the bicentenary celebration was an unqualified success, thanks to the many people and organisations who became history-makers by getting involved. It brought the rail industry together, inspired people to re-evaluate rail’s role and showcased the railway as a varied and rewarding career open to all. It helped to build considerable goodwill towards, and restore pride in, a British invention that changed the world.
“The legacy of the campaign is being evaluated for the industry to build upon, but has included new progressive partnerships, new public artworks, new career pathways, and stronger links between mainline and heritage railways. Railway 200 has set the standard for other countries’ national rail celebrations in the years ahead.”
Although the main celebratory year has concluded, the exhibition train will remain on the tracks for five more months. A full public summary and impact report of the campaign is scheduled for publication in March, following final feedback from the project’s global partners.
Image credit: Network Rail
