The Weardale Railway has revealed that it is to feature in Michael Portillo’s new BBC2 series 200 Years of the Railways.

The episode will be broadcast tomorrow (Tuesday 16 September 2025) at 8pm, and will be available afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

The television programme will report on Wearside Railways’ role in the S&DR200 celebrations, which mark two hundred years since the world’s first locomotive-hauled passenger railway journey, on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

Earlier in 2025, a replica of the engine that hauled that first trip – Locomotion No.1 – visited the heritage railway. Weardale Railway’s staff and volunteers worked with the Locomotion team to run testing and trials ahead of the locomotive’s bicentenary run.

Weardale Railway, which earlier this year appointed its first-ever female general manager, has participated in the bicentenary celebrations in various ways, including planting 200 bulbs at each of its stations and 200 native trees and shrubs along the route.

In May, a team of fifty volunteers cleared 200 bags of litter along the Railway’s eighteen-mile line.

Niccy Hallifax, S&DR Bicentenary Festival Director, described the Weardale Railway as “a fantastic partner in bringing the celebrations to life”, and welcomed the inclusion of the Railway in the BBC programme.

There are also other bicentennial celebrations in Bishop Auckland. The town’s Mining Art Gallery is hosting Fuelling the Railway Revolution, an exhibition exploring the role of coal in powering the railways and the Industrial Revolution.

It features works by artists including Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornis, the latter of whom once wrote: “The railways, which are fast disappearing, are such a compelling source of pictorial art in terms of human history or any other terms for that matter.”

The Weardale Railway, which is home to the UK’s youngest train driver, is part of local regeneration charity The Auckland Project.

“It’s a real honour for Weardale Railway to be part of the BBC’s celebration of 200 years of the railways. Our staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to support the bicentenary and to see the line feature on a national platform is a huge boost. This anniversary is about honouring the past, but also about inspiring future generations to discover the magic of the railways.”

Claire Gibbons, General Manager at Weardale Railway