Railway 200: Celebrate Two Centuries Of The Railway In 2025

It's 1825. John Adams has been sworn in as the sixth President of the United States, London has just become the largest city in the world, and a steam locomotive carries passengers 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton in north-east England.

That locomotive journey — operated by George Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 — is now recognised as the world's first passenger railway service, and it celebrates its bicentenary in 2025. The engine itself, FYI, is now housed at the Locomotion museum in Shildon, a sister venue to London's Science Museum and York's Railway Museum.

Of course, freight trains ran before this, and passengers had travelled on horse-drawn carriages guided by iron rails, but Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam-powered train to convey paying passengers (around 500 on that first ride, depending which report you read), a precursor to the millions who travel daily on railways all over the world now.

A whole year of events is planned in 2025 to mark the bicentenary. Here are a few London-based and national highlights of the Railway 200 programme, though we expect more to be added as the celebrations, ahem, pick up steam:

RAILWAY 200 WHISTLE UP: Locomotive whistles up and down the country will be sounded at 12pm on New Year's Day to mark the start of Railway 200. Hope that New Year's hangover isn't too bad... 1 January

YOUNG RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHER: Know a young railway enthusiast (up to 25 years of age) who's handy with a camera? They've got until the end of January to submit entries for the Young Railway Photographer of the Year exhibition and competition. Photos of all aspects of railway infrastructure and the industry are welcome, with winning and shortlisted images going on display at the National Railway Museum in York, and other locations later in the year. Deadline 31 January

200 YEARS OF BRITAIN'S RAILWAYS: Carshalton's Honeywood Museum hosts local transport historian and photographer John Parkin to give a talk about how the birth of the railways shaped and changed Britain. Includes archive images from the Greater London area. 27 March

RAILWAY 200 SPECIAL TRAIN: In October, expect a gathering at King's Cross with crowds larger than the erstwhile Back to Hogwarts celebrations. The Railway 200 Special sees a train hauled by blue liveried Class 86 electric locomotive Les Ross (something of a celebrity in the train world) departing the London terminus. It makes its way up the East Coast Main Line, picking up passengers at various stops, and travelling over part of the original route from Shildon and Stockton to Darlington. 4 October

Check the Railway 200 website for details of other events and activities nationwide, and sign up for our event listings to be kept up-to-date with happenings in London.

In the meantime, why not steam through a few gems of railway history from Londonist's own archives:

• Is the world's oldest railway station in south London?
• This central London building used to house a 'death railway'
• The unique London spot where a railway, a road and a canal all cross each other
• Video: A history of London's railway termini construction
• How King's Cross station was designed in the last ice age
• The Shaolin Temple in an abandoned London railway station
• This abandoned railway station is now home to a junk shop