As England celebrates the 200th anniversary of rail travel, author and train expert Tom Chesshyre reveals his favourite rides across the UK.

Two hundred years ago in a small market town in north-east England, something happened that had never been seen before: ticket-holding travellers boarded carriages and eagerly awaited as a steam locomotive hauling passenger cars began to slowly rattle along wrought-iron tracks. The locomotive-powered series of cars and carriages was called a train, and this first 26-mile journey in 1825 from Darlington to Stockton birthed the modern railway and forever changed the world.

The bicentennial of this momentous event was the impetus for author, traveller and train enthusiast Tom Chesshyre's most recent book, Slow Trains Around Britain. For more than 20 years, Chesshyre has been riding the rails across the UK and around the world, totalling more than 40,000 miles in all.

Chesshyre recently sat down with the BBC to talk about his new book, what still makes rail travel so alluring and his favourite "slow-train" rides (regional train trips) in Britain.

What inspired you to write Slow Trains Around Britain?

Well, it's a simple one, really, because it's the 200th anniversary of the first public passenger steam train! We, the British, invented the trains. It was a proud moment.

I've been interested in railways for some time. It's a slower way [to travel]. You see places off the beaten track out of the train window. But it was the anniversary that really inspired it.

Considering that trains are a more eco-friendly way to travel than flying and people are increasingly concerned about their carbon footprints, do you think we're on the verge of a resurgence in train travel?

I think we've got a way to go. As long as the flight prices are so cheap, it's very tempting if you're in Britain to fly to Barcelona. You could fly there maybe for £60 return. But to get a train, it might cost £150 each way. The prices are so against it. However, there's a pass in Europe called the Interrail Pass, which is offered by a company called Rail Europe. In the past, it used to be mainly youthful backpackers, but I think now people are aware that if they've got two or three weeks off, they can book one of these rail passes and have an adventure around Europe by taking trains. Buying these passes makes it more affordable.

The other thing is the high-speed train networks in Europe have [gotten] much better. Spain now has the best high-speed network in Europe, so now most people in Spain would not consider flying from the north to the south.

Why do you think travellers remain fascinated by trains?

There's a kind of nostalgia for the golden age of trains, when there was a kind of Agatha Christie feel: plush velvet seats (they were normally in the first class) waiters with bow ties and a mystique. This was very much where princes, royalty, celebrities, writers, actors and the aristocracy of Europe used to ride around on trains, say, from the 1890s to around the Second World War. This was the glamorous way of getting about, and I think in the back of people's minds, there's a belief that there's a kind of romance connected to train travel.

You've [still] got these beautiful old stations, too. People may go to a station........

© BBC