Dr. Oli Betts – How the railway helped form nations

Head of research at the National Railway Museum, Dr. Oli Betts describes how the railway’s rapid expansion in the United Kingdom started to change the cultural fabric of Victorian society, opening up huge opportunities. People started to commute and holiday by train. The rail network helped to connect the country. This expansion and connection caught the eyes of investors and engineers from around the world. Oli explains how the railway crossed the great plains of North America, helped India develop pre and post-independence, and formed small pockets of pioneering British railway engineers around the world to transform peoples’ lives.