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El Tren Fantasma

4 Extra Debut. An immersive recreation of a withdrawn train service across the heart of Mexico from Pacific to Atlantic coast. From 2010.

Ride the Ghost Train from Los Mochis to Veracruz, and travel across country, coast to coast, from the Pacific to Atlantic.

It's an acoustic journey through the heart of Mexico, on board one of the most exciting, beautiful and dynamic engineering projects the country has ever known, but which has now passed into history.

It's more than a decade since the Mexican State Railway System operated its last continuous passenger service across the country.

Sound recordist Chris Watson spent a month on board the train with some of the last passengers to travel this route.

In this sound portrait, based on his original recordings, we recreate the journey of the 'ghost train'; evoking memories of a recent past, capturing the atmosphere, rhythms and sounds of human life and wildlife along the tracks of one of Mexico's greatest engineering projects.

The recordings used in this programme were originally made by Chris Watson whilst in Mexico with a film crew for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ TV's Great Railways Journeys: Mexico.

Narrated by Chris Watson

Producer Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 in October 2010.

Available now

1 hour

Last on

Thu 25 Sep 2025 00:00

Broadcasts

  • Sat 30 Oct 2010 20:00
  • Mon 1 Nov 2010 15:00
  • Wed 24 Sep 2025 10:00
  • Wed 24 Sep 2025 16:00
  • Thu 25 Sep 2025 00:00