200 Years of Romance

Have you ever waited 200 years for a train to arrive? Probably not — but this mural celebrates a journey that’s been two centuries in the making.

200 Years of Romance marks the bicentenary of the UK’s railway network, bringing together hundreds of photographs shared by the communities who work on, travel through, and live alongside the railways.

Each image — from engineers and volunteers to local history groups — forms part of a vast digital collage that celebrates both the industry and the intimacy of the railways.

Commissioned by Network Rail and South Western Railway, the mural is a joint declaration of love from those who know the network best. Installed in Waterloo Station, the work transforms the concourse into a cathedral-like space, echoing the monumental architecture that has framed countless arrivals and farewells.

In searching for the image that could capture the scale and emotion of the railways, Patricio set off on an unplanned train journey from Waterloo — letting the tracks decide his destination.

The trip, filled with moments of quiet perspective and mechanical rhythm, distilled the essence of the railways into three words:

Monumental. Industrial. Perspective.

Monumental, in size, reach and combined effort, the railways are a physical monument to the impact of human collaboration and connection.

Industrial, in the most literal sense, the railways were the engine of modern revolution, moving resources and connecting cultural epicenters. 

Perspective is everywhere in rail travel. From platform to passenger seat, the eye is lead by overhead lines, tracks and an infamously mesmerising vanishing point that keeps the eyes hooked.

These ideas shaped the final composition — a vast tapestry of shared memories, treated like stained glass to illuminate the structure it inhabits.

200 Years of Romance is a tribute to the enduring allure of the railway: its power, its people, and the endless stories it carries down the line.