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Saturday 27 September 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, when George Stephenson drove Locomotion No. 1 on its inaugural journey from Shildon to Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, to great fanfare. The 26-mile journey was a landmark moment in public transport and the springboard for the great Victorian age of the railways, transforming how the world traded, travelled, and communicated.

Anchored by resident train enthusiast Petroc Trelawny, Radio 3 is celebrating this historic occasion by travelling from Inverness to London on the Highland and East Coast Main Lines, aboard the Highland Chieftain, one of the longest direct train journeys in the UK.

Over the course of the eight-hour, 581-mile journey, Petroc will provide updates from the train as it speeds south. He’ll be joined by fellow Radio 3 presenters at stations along the route, including Tom Service at Pitlochry, Tom McKinney at Edinburgh Waverley, Elizabeth Alker at Darlington and Georgia Mann at King’s Cross.

The day will be framed by a specially curated railway-themed soundtrack, featuring music inspired by trains from across the UK and beyond, as well as pieces that resonate with the locations the train passes through. And there will be live music on location from Inverness, Pitlochry, Edinburgh, Darlington and London, including a Scottish piper, a brass band and a jazz quartet.

There will also be two brand new commissions from composers Erland Cooper and Jasper Dommett. Erland's piece, Unfolding Landscapes, is inspired by the Caledonian Sleeper and J.M.W. Turner’s 1844 painting Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway, and Jasper wraps things up at King's Cross with All Change!

Plus, we’ll hear from a range of special guests throughout the day, visit iconic railway destinations - including the National Railway Museum in York - and let the trains themselves do some of the broadcasting, as we revel in evocative field recordings of locomotives recorded across the UK.

And as the train departs Inverness station at 0755, the Highland Chieftain will be sent on its way by Pipe Major Iain Campbell playing one of the Highlands most loved bagpipe tunes.