A Great Railroad at Work(1942)

KEATON × SSR(en)

A side-by-side analysis of Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality and S.S. Rajamouli's Maryada Ramanna.

Cavalcade of San Francisco(en)

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City(de)

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Train Time(en)

A short documentary about the transportation of goods and livestock by train around the UK.

Elizabethan Express(en)

Originally intended as an advertising short, this film follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London to Edinburgh along the East Coast Main Line. A nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex-LNER Class A4.

Strangers for the Day(en)

This short documentary shows the reactions of European immigrants as they land in Halifax at the beginning of the 1960s. From the port, we follow them on a snowy journey by train to Montreal.

The Great Train Robbery(en)

It was one of the greatest heists in British history. £3 million – worth over £40 million today – stolen from a moving train by a gang of thieves who almost got away with it.

Trains of Thoughts(en)

An audio-visual essay, which reflects upon & compares metro systems around the world. It is an exploration of a world inside the world as well as feelings, fascination, obsession, fear and themes - of survival, control & silence.

The Station(it)

A day in the life of a train station.

3rd Ave. El(en)

Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

Trains: Two Centuries of Innovation(fr)

Nearly 200 years ago, the train revolutionized our lives. It redrew the maps of states and nations, and changed concepts of distance and time like no other invention before. What visionaries imagined the development of the railroad? How did we get from the first chugging locomotives to the smooth giants of speed we see today? How does France's extensive rail network keep running smoothly, 24/7?

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe(fr)

La saga du rail(fr)

The Strait Guys(en)

THE STRAIT GUYS follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his fast-talking protégé, Scott, along the proposed route of the InterContinental Railway through Alaska, to the Bering Strait and onward to Russia. The “Strait Guys” endeavor to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100 billion railway project, which would provide ground-based infrastructure across the continents, relieve overcrowded Pacific ports, improve global supply chains, and ease tensions between the superpowers. The US and Russia have been successfully collaborating in space for decades. Now the Strait Guys are out to prove it is also possible down here on earth.

How to Fix a Railway(en)

A multibillion-pound investment is underway to make our railways bigger, better and faster. Over three years, we go behind the scenes with Wales’s newest rail body as they try to make ambitious promises a reality.

TGV, 30 ans de vitesse(fr)

Journey to the East(en)

Could our mounting modern problems have ancient solutions? Travel to the depths of China to find out.

We(fr)

An urban train link, the RER B, crosses Paris and its outskirts from north to south. A journey within indistinct spaces known as inner cities and suburbs. Several portraits, all individual pieces that form a whole. We.

Faces Places(fr)

Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.