The Best Railways Documentaries

Cars, Planes & Trains - 132 free documentaries about railways.

Start with Which Is Easier To Pull? (Railcars vs. Road Cars) (18 min, Practical Engineering), then World’s Toughest Train Rides (49 min, Free Documentary). All 132 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on railways is The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux.

• Which Is Easier To Pull? (Railcars vs. Road Cars) (18 min, Practical Engineering)
• World’s Toughest Train Rides | Siberia: On Frozen Rails (49 min, Free Documentary)
• The Last Stop: Canada's Lost Locomotive (89 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Why don't trains make that clacking noise anymore? (27 min, Veritasium)
• World’s Most Extreme Railway | Megastructures (49 min, Free Documentary)
• Modern Marvels: Freight Trains are the Life Blood of the Economy (S12, E36) (45 min, HISTORY)
• World’s Busiest Station: Shinjuku Station Tokyo | Giant Hubs | Episode 3 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Longest High-Speed Train Heavy Maintenance | Mega Pit Stops | Episode 2 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• From Steam Toys to Electric Trains (S1, E13) | Trains Unlimited (46 min, HISTORY)
• How a Steam Locomotive Works (Union Pacific "Big Boy") (36 min, Animagraffs)
• Why Maglev is (Basically) Impossible (18 min, The B1M)
• The Real Reason US High-Speed Rail Failed (19 min, The B1M)
• What Went Wrong With California High Speed Rail (21 min, Wendover Productions)
• 16,000 Ton Haul: Rescue Of A Dead Locomotive (44 min, Wonder)
• How a Diesel-Electric Locomotive Works (25 min, Animagraffs)
• Inside the Train’s Last Car: The Forgotten Caboose (S2, E5) | Trains Unlimited (47 min, HISTORY)
• The Biggest Train Station in the World is Now Open (20 min, The B1M)
• This Railroad Could Cripple America's Economy (39 min, The B1M)
• The Surprising Success of Private Passenger Rail (24 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Most Dangerous Subway in America (27 min, Wendover Productions)
• The One Tiny Law That Keeps Amtrak Terrible (23 min, Wendover Productions)
• Why Locomotives Don't Have Tires (16 min, Practical Engineering)
• World’s Toughest Train Rides | Vietnam: Tracks of Chaos (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Transportation Nightmare Of 100 Tone 15F Steam Train Across Two Continents | Huge Moves (47 min, Spark)
• The Insanely Dangerous Job Of A 19th-Century Railway Builder | Building Ireland (26 min, Absolute History)
• World's Most Dangerous Railway Tracks | The Tazara, Tanzania-Zambia Railway (52 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Fastest Train - The Race for Speed (54 min, Free Documentary)
• A Day In The Life At London's Most Problematic Underground Stations | The Tube (23 min, Spark)
• The $135BN Bullet Train That Could Save Australia (19 min, The B1M)
• HS2: The £100BN Railway Dividing a Nation (34 min, The B1M)
• The First Trains Of The Industrial Revolution | Trains That Changed The World (43 min, Absolute History)
• From Steam to Speed: The Evolution of the Locomotive (S2, E3) | Trains Unlimited (46 min, HISTORY)
• America Actually Built Something On Time and On Budget (23 min, The B1M)
• The World's Heaviest Load: Transporting A Nuclear Reactor Across Canada's Extreme Rail (44 min, Wonder)
• How Britain Used Railways To Control Its Empire | Trains That Changed The World (43 min, Absolute History)
• Train Hospital's 8-Month Mission To Kazakhastan's Most Remote Regions | Reaching The Unreached (46 min, CNA Insider)
• World’s Toughest Train Rides | Bolivia: Railway to Nowhere (54 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Most Dangerous Railway Tracks | India: The Pamban Railway (52 min, Free Documentary)
• $3 Million Cargo – Can This Train Survive Frozen Tracks? (44 min, Wonder)
• The Rail Renaissance: How Trains Changed The World (41 min, Absolute History)
• How I recreated an entire Steam Locomotive in 3D (33 min, Animagraffs)
• Railway Network Connecting Southeast Asia For Trade, Tourism: To ASEAN & Beyond (23 min, CNA Insider)
• South America's Biggest Railway Hub | Retiro Station, Buenos Aires (52 min, Free Documentary)
• Iran by Train: The Trans-Iranian Railway (43 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Most Dangerous Railway Tracks | Southern Railway, Peru (52 min, Free Documentary)
• How Diesel Engines Changed Railroads (S1, E9) | Trains Unlimited (47 min, HISTORY)
• Why French Trains Are The Fastest (16 min, Mustard)
• The World's Fastest Train: The SCMaglev (11 min, Mustard)
• This Train Made Passengers Sick: The APT Tilting Train Story (11 min, Mustard)
• The £102BN Plan To Finish The World's Most Expensive Railway (38 min, The B1M)
• Inside London's £19BN New Railway (and its Nightmare Station) (10 min, The B1M)
• What Went Wrong With California's High-Speed Railway (8 min, The B1M)
• 19th Century Trains: The Beginning of the Transport Revolution (44 min, Absolute History)
• World's Biggest, Longest Trains | Ultimate Vehicles | S01 E05 (48 min, Free Documentary)
• How Do Train Drivers Learn To Drive? | The Tube (23 min, Spark)
• How Do Trains Survive Brutal Avalanches? (44 min, Wonder)
• Ecuador by Train: South America’s Most Spectacular Railroad (43 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Most Dangerous Railway Tracks | Argentina: The Train To The Clouds (52 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Most Dangerous Railway Tracks | The Bernina Express, Switzerland (52 min, Free Documentary)
• Could You Pass The London Underground Train Driving Test? | The Tube (24 min, Spark)
• By train from St. Moritz to the Matterhorn - The Glacier Express (42 min, DW Documentary)
• World’s Toughest Trains | Thai Rail: The Death Railway (46 min, Free Documentary)
• World’s Toughest Train Rides | USA: The Transcontinental Railroad (52 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Highest Railway | Man Made Marvels (48 min, Free Documentary)
• The Ghan: The Longest Passenger Train In The World (45 min, Spark)
• Canada's Guide on How Not to Build a Railway (15 min, The B1M)
• Zurich Main Station: How Switzerland’s Busiest Train Station Actually Works (52 min, Free Documentary)
• World’s Toughest Trains | Ecuador: The Devil’s Nose Railway (46 min, Free Documentary)
• The Steam Train That Captured The Nation's Heart | The Flying Scotsman: A Rail Romance (54 min, Spark)
• Europe's Megaproject to Replace Russian Railways (11 min, The B1M)
• The $100BN Railway in the Desert (9 min, The B1M)
• Gen Alpha Swimmer With One Hand Trains To Represent Singapore At Para Games | Limitless (46 min, CNA Insider)
• On Asia's Rail Networks: China Reopens "Ghost Stations", Japan Rail's Troubles (23 min, CNA Insider)
• World's Most Luxurious Trains: How to Operate a Palace on Rails (136 min, Free Documentary)
• How This Train Changed The World (11 min, Mustard)
• North Rail Express: Skandinavia's King Of Cargo (45 min, Spark)
• Saving Steam Engines From Extinction | The Golden Age Of Steam Railways (59 min, Spark)
• Why Auckland Needs This $3.2BN Railway (9 min, The B1M)
• Japan’s $64BN Gamble on Levitating Bullet Trains Explained (9 min, The B1M)
• Why Trains Suck in America (8 min, Wendover Productions)

Top-Rated Books About Railways

1. The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux - View on Amazon
2. Nothing Like It in the World by Stephen E. Ambrose - View on Amazon
3. Fire and Steam by Christian Wolmar - View on Amazon