| Watch: Great Western Railway offers video view inside its control room Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:45, 13th September 2026 |     |
From RailAdvent:
Watch: Great Western Railway offers video view inside its control room
Great Western Railway (GWR) launched a four-part, behind-the-scenes video series called Beyond the Journey that takes viewers inside the daily operation of its control room on Friday 11 September.
The video is told from the point of view of control room workers, and shows the split-second decisions, high pressure and hard work that go into keeping the railway moving.
Production company So-Motive has co-produced the video series with GWR.
The video follows staff from both GWR and Network Rail during high-pressure days on the job. Workers can be seen live from the control room, as they carry out actions including rerouting services, keeping rails safe as temperatures rise, dealing with tens of thousands of football fans travelling to and from a major stadium, and making sure that the final 24 hours before the opening of a brand-new station run smoothly.
Episode 1: 24 hours to opening day (link to YouTube). Staff from Network Rail and Devon County Council, together with GWR’s Head of Third Party Delivery, Ian Mundy, look at the busy final 24 hours before the opening of the new Okehampton Interchange station.
Episode 2: Match day at the Principality. Staff, including GWR’s Customer Service and Events Manager for South Wales Kay Davies, manage the crowds as Cardiff’s Principality Stadium hosts Arsenal v Manchester City in the FA Community Shield. This involves managing additional train capacity and moving tens of thousands of fans safely to and from the game.
Episode 3: Beating the heat. This summer’s heatwaves provided a challenge to the railway network that was so severe that it had to impose speed restrictions. In this episode, Network Rail Track Maintenance Engineer, Michael Payne, explains the work that railway workers have to carry out in order to keep trains running safely during extreme heat. He also talks about what climate change will mean for the railway’s infrastructure in the years ahead.
Episode 4: Inside the Control Room. Staff at the joint GWR and Network Rail Control Room respond to live incidents across the network in real time. Along with GWR Duty Service Delivery Manager, Amy Sansum, they make split-second decisions that keep passengers moving when difficulties arise.
Episode 1 is already available, and the remaining three will be released one per week on GWR’s social media channels.
Great Western Railway (GWR) launched a four-part, behind-the-scenes video series called Beyond the Journey that takes viewers inside the daily operation of its control room on Friday 11 September.
The video is told from the point of view of control room workers, and shows the split-second decisions, high pressure and hard work that go into keeping the railway moving.
Production company So-Motive has co-produced the video series with GWR.
The video follows staff from both GWR and Network Rail during high-pressure days on the job. Workers can be seen live from the control room, as they carry out actions including rerouting services, keeping rails safe as temperatures rise, dealing with tens of thousands of football fans travelling to and from a major stadium, and making sure that the final 24 hours before the opening of a brand-new station run smoothly.
Episode 1: 24 hours to opening day (link to YouTube). Staff from Network Rail and Devon County Council, together with GWR’s Head of Third Party Delivery, Ian Mundy, look at the busy final 24 hours before the opening of the new Okehampton Interchange station.
Episode 2: Match day at the Principality. Staff, including GWR’s Customer Service and Events Manager for South Wales Kay Davies, manage the crowds as Cardiff’s Principality Stadium hosts Arsenal v Manchester City in the FA Community Shield. This involves managing additional train capacity and moving tens of thousands of fans safely to and from the game.
Episode 3: Beating the heat. This summer’s heatwaves provided a challenge to the railway network that was so severe that it had to impose speed restrictions. In this episode, Network Rail Track Maintenance Engineer, Michael Payne, explains the work that railway workers have to carry out in order to keep trains running safely during extreme heat. He also talks about what climate change will mean for the railway’s infrastructure in the years ahead.
Episode 4: Inside the Control Room. Staff at the joint GWR and Network Rail Control Room respond to live incidents across the network in real time. Along with GWR Duty Service Delivery Manager, Amy Sansum, they make split-second decisions that keep passengers moving when difficulties arise.
Episode 1 is already available, and the remaining three will be released one per week on GWR’s social media channels.
