The Promise - First TransPennine Express

The Promise - First TransPennine Express Simon Calder, Travel Editor for The Independent and regular contributor to the BBC'S Holiday programme, goes behind the scenes of a multi-million pound engineering project. Filmed over 2 years, this is the story of a promise TransPennine Express made to revitalise rail travel across the North of England. The film follows the project from the creation of the TransPennine Express franchise in 2004, through installation of a life size model of the train at the National Railway Museum in York, the construction and rigorous testing of the Pennine Class 185 on a purpose built facility in Germany, and culminating in the first train entering passenger service at 06:22 on the 14 March 2006.