London's first 'Circle Line', 200 years on

Set up in 1808, Richard Trevithick's train, known as the 'Catch me who can', cost a shilling to ride, and was the first demonstration of passenger rail travel in the world. On Wednesday the Trevithick Dinner will honour this historic moment.

Sponsored by O2, the event will be attended by chief executives and chairmen of major rail and engineering companies such as Eurostar, Transport for London, Chiltern Railways, LCR, National Express, First Great Western, Network Rail, Virgin Trains, Balfour Beatty and Arup. Also present will be the Director-General of the Association of Train Operating Companies, ministers for transport (the Under-Secretary of State and the Chairman of the London Assembly Transport Committee), the chairmen of the Rail Safety & Standards Board and Office of Rail Regulation, the chairmen of the Railway Heritage Committee, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Engineering & Technology, and the Directors of the National Museum of Science & Industry and the National Railway Museum, York.

The dinner marks the opening of the 4th International Early Railway Conference, which is supported by the Newcomen Society, the Trevithick Society, the National Railway Museum and the Science Museum. A special exhibition of items relating to Trevithick, drawn from collections at the Science Museum London, the National Railway Museum at York and other institutions, will be on display at UCL for the week of the Trevithick event.

A competition for innovative and creative transport ideas is also being held. The winners, who will receive Eurostar tickets, will be announced at the dinner.

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