Tonight | Guy Martin: The Train That Changed The World on SBS 2: Locomotion No.1 makes its historic journey again – Guy Martin helps rebuild and drive a replica of Locomotion No.1, the locomotive behind a landmark passenger journey. Guy Martin: The Train That Changed The World airs Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 8.30pm on SBS 2 and SBS On Demand.
The programme turns a 200-year railway anniversary into a practical engineering challenge, asking what it takes to make the early technology run again.
Rebuilding Locomotion No.1
Two centuries ago, Locomotion No.1 pulled the first passenger train on a public railway. Martin spends more than a year helping recreate the locomotive and learning to operate it.
The original journey ran from Shildon to Stockton-on-Tees, a distance of 26 miles. The documentary follows the replica as it attempts that route on the anniversary of the historic trip.
Martin joins the crew on the footplate. His work on the rebuild gives the journey an engineering focus as well as a historical one, showing the machinery behind a major change in transport.
Guy Martin: The Train That Changed The World Documentary premiere airs Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 8.30pm on SBS 2 and SBS On Demand.
Find more free-to-air coverage on TV Central, and visit SBS On Demand for more details.
