About this season
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. There were four series broadcast on BBC Two between 1980 and 1999, with the shorter series title being used for all but the first. In 2010 a similar series also aired on BBC Two, Great British Railway Journeys.
Episodes (7)
1. India: East to West
Aired 5 January 1999 • 49 min
Ian Hislop travels from Kolkata, the former capital of the British Raj and present seat of the Marxist government of West Bengal, to Rajasthan.
2. Granada to Salamanca
Aired 12 January 1999 • 49 min
Michael Portillo explores his roots in a trek across the railway networks of Spain.
3. Tokyo to Kagoshima
Aired 19 January 1999 • 49 min
Fergal Keane travels through Japan and receives earthquake training and etiquette lessons.
4. Los Mochis to Veracruz
Aired 26 January 1999 • 49 min
Rick Stein crosses Mexico from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
5. Guantanamo to Pinar Del Rio
Aired 2 February 1999 • 49 min
Nick Hancock crosses Cuba, battling hurricanes as well as the crumbling infrastructure.
6. St Louis to Dogon Country
Aired 9 February 1999 • 49 min
Hollywood star Danny Glover rides the oldest line in Africa, the Bamako Express.
7. Singapore to Bangkok
Aired 6 April 1999 • 55 min
Stephen Tompkinson relives the days of colonial train travel as a pampered passenger on the Eastern and Oriental Express.