A popular website that promoted and chronicled the 200ed anniversary celebration of the modern railway is to be preserved for posterity by The National Archives.
The Railway 200 website – www.railway200.co.uk – is packed with interesting insights and information about last year’s national bicentenary campaign, which encouraged more people to consider a career in rail and explored how a British invention changed the world. It continues to promote Railway 200’s unique exhibition train, Ysbrydoliaeth, which tours Britain until the end of June.
The site, which can be translated into eight languages, hosts the biggest online educational resource in the rail industry, a timeline of major moments in railway history, an interactive map of more than 1,000 registered activities and events, a campaign toolkit, stories, blogs and podcast episodes, and more.
Martyn Pennell, senior website manager for Railway 200, said: “It’s a huge honour for the Railway 200 campaign to have one of its main channels of communication preserved for future generations to enjoy and research. It’s also slightly surreal to think that the website is joining such iconic documents as The Domesday Book as part of the UK’s official records.”
Lynne Montague, web archivist at The National Archives, added: “It has been a pleasure working in a truly collaborative way with the Railway 200 team who have been communicative, enthusiastic, and proactive in ensuring the site is archived in a timely and technically compliant way. This collaboration has enabled us to preserve future access to this valuable record of the Railway 200 project.”
So far, the website has attracted more than 1.7 million page views across 150 countries.
This includes interest from railways and public bodies from other nations across the world who are preparing their own national railway celebrations in the years to come.
The platform is also a handy reference for Rocket: All Aboard, which in 2030 will mark 200 years since the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway, the world’s first inter-city railway.
The Railway 200 website won’t go into full digital storage until after Railway 200’s immersive and interactive exhibition train has concluded its 12-month tour of Britain at the end of June 2026.