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8 Episodes 2013 - 2013
Episode 1
Paddington's duty station manager faces a major disruption as a fire causes signal failures. A train manager has to keep control on a service which is notorious for drunken passengers. A revenue protection officer targets Windsor Central station, looking for fare dodgers.
Episode 2
Glastonbury festival-goers travel from Paddington to Castle Cary. At St Ives, there are holidaymakers and a royal visit.
Episode 3
The workers of First Great Western must cope with rush hour during the summer, as commuters battle the hot weather and a group of school kids seem determined to wreak havoc. Rush hour means a state of red alert for the newly formed "Ribena girls", the purple-clad teams deployed to take the heat out of the commute.
Episode 4
This episode shows what happens on the network after dark.
Episode 5
It's Ladies' Day at Newbury, and Newbury Racecourse station has to cope with extra passengers, some drunk after a day at the races. Drunk passengers also cause problems on the Saturday night special to Swansea. At Long Rock depot, staff and fire brigade stage a training exercise which involves rescuing a "casualty" who has been trapped in thick smoke on a train.
Episode 6
On the day of Dawlish Air Show, a small, picturesque seaside station is brought to life by an influx of merry passengers. First Great Western lays on extra staff, more trains and different queuing systems to cope with the change. It is all hands on deck to ensure that passengers move away from the trains and platforms and safely onto the beach.
Episode 7
Bruce Parkin, the longest-serving train driver in Europe, reaches the end of the line; there is a look at the biggest redevelopment project since Brunel's time; and we step back in time in Cornwall.
Episode 8
This week, some of the network's most senior staff head out onto the platforms at Paddington station at rush hour. Meet the Manager day is excellent PR, giving customers the opportunity to discuss issues and give feedback as they make their journeys. However, the event takes an unwelcome turn as the staff and passengers find themselves in the midst of a major service disruption. We spend a working day with mobile fitter Mark Bell, whose job is to repair everything from brakes to air conditioners. When a peak-time train full of passengers develops a fault, Mark has his work cut out to correct the problem. If he fails, the train will have to be taken out of service. In the sleepy Cotswolds, an area with the highest percentage of first class travellers, preparations have been underway for some time for the annual Wilderness festival, a celebration of the arts and outdoors. Charlbury station springs to life as the festival-goers start to arrive in their thousands. To end the series, there is a look at Brunel's last engineering masterpiece, the Royal Albert Bridge, which spans the River Tamar to connect Plymouth in Devon with Saltash in Cornwall. A unique design, it has carried the Cornish mainline railway since 1859.