All aboard!

Clare Stevens joins the intrepid presenters of Radio 3 for a day of remarkable on-the-move broadcasting, travelling the length of the United Kingdom by train

- By Clare Stevens

An all-day radio broadcast from a train travelling down the length of Britain (almost) from the Highlands of Scotland to London – that was how BBC Radio 3 celebrated the 200th anniversary, on Saturday 27 September, of the day the first-ever passenger train travelled from Shildon, via Darlington, to Stockton in northeast England.

Train Tracks was anchored by Petroc Trelawny from the 7.55am London North Eastern Railway (LNER) service from Inverness – chosen for the broadcast because at 581 miles it’s one of the longest journeys you can take in the UK on one train. Four colleagues presented shows from stations along the way, featuring a mix of live performances, interviews and recordings of music relating to railways: Tom Service at Pitlochry; Tom McKinney at Waverley Station, Edinburgh; Elizabeth Alker in Darlington; and Georgia Mann at London King’s Cross.

‘This I’ve got to see,’ I thought when I read Radio 3 controller Sam Jackson’s preview of the event in the September issue of BBC Music Magazine and realised that I would be travelling home to Wales from Scotland the same weekend. Could I travel part of the way on Petroc’s train?

Well, yes, I could, but it wouldn’t be a very interesting experience as Petroc and his team would be ensconced in a separate carriage – a ‘Faraday cage’ designed to minimise electrical interference. He wouldn’t be walking up and down the train chatting to passengers. Much better to join one of the other presenters on a station, hear the musical performances and see the Highland Chieftain pulling in at the appointed time with Petroc on board.

So, at a much earlier hour than usual on a Saturday, I found myself switching on Radio 3 in my room at Fisher's Hotel, Pitlochry to listen to Petroc setting the scene at Inverness Station and being piped on board the London train.