The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track

Some of the most overcrowded trains in Britain are the rush hour trains between Reading and Paddington, and every morning, thousands of commuters resignedly squeeze on to packed trains at Reading. It's a packed schedule and when a train accidentally cuts through some vital signalling cables, the track staff are under intense pressure from their bosses to get the hundreds of irate passengers on the move again.

There's good news though - a multi billion pound overhaul of the line will bring faster, longer and more trains to the route, but to get there, the commuters have to endure line closures, building works and delays. For the railway staff, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place - as many people complain if they do the work, as those who complain if they don't. With Christmas approaching and Paddington empty for the holidays, up the line in Reading, hundreds of track workers are putting the festivities on hold with just three days to knock down and rebuild an entire bridge and re-build the platforms.