Paddington Station 24/7

The return of the documentary going behind the scenes at the London station. It is the height of summer and staff and passengers on the Western network are feeling the heat, with Network Rail staff positioned at key points to monitor the track - which can reach temperatures up to 20C higher than the air temperature.

The station gets back to the new normal, as Covid-19 restrictions ease on travel. Route Control keep a close eye on the weather forecast, which is predicting dangerously high winds. It's not just fallen trees the team needs to be worried about - a large industrial unit has been blown right across the tracks and emergency services are on their way.

A passenger drops her overnight bag on the tracks and threatens to jump down to retrieve it, while a major power cut at Maidenhead has caused signalling to fail on all the tracks, including the main line into Paddington. At Great Western Railway's Long Rock Depot, the famed Night Riviera sleeper service departs once more after a three-month suspension due to the pandemic, but with radical changes.

A major track circuit failure results in the closure of one of the busiest platforms and the technicians trying to fix the problem race against time to complete the job before rush hour begins. Staff and passengers are excited about the arrival of a West Country heritage steam train, while reports come into Route Control at Swindon of a very serious incident of suspected track sabotage.

Staff at Bristol Temple Meads have their work cut out as they prepare for the station's 180th birthday celebration, while Slough station is evacuated when a suspicious package is found underneath a stairwell. At Paddington, there is a commotion on Platform 12 as staff attempt to find the source of a fire alarm before the station's automatic evacuation message is activated.

The Wales football team receive the VIP treatment as they travel to Paddington for a friendly with England. Storm Alex hits the network hard with the wettest day on record, and the just-completed sea wall at Dawlish faces its toughest test yet.

Staff prepare for a VIP visitor, who turns out to be Prince Harry, while a buckled rail is threatening to disrupt the timetable at Route Control in Swindon, while a failed freight train requires a rescue locomotive as delays and cancellations stack up at Paddington.

A high-speed train comes to an abrupt halt in the station as there are fears it has collided with something on the track. In Swindon's route control, staff are dealing with the knock-on effect of an incident on a level-crossing, while a major points failure jeopardises the afternoon peak-time services.