Train mad couple set to hit South Yorkshire in record breaking attempt to visit all 2,563 railway stations in Britain this summer

A train made couple are set to steam into South Yorkshire - as part of a record breaking attempt to visit all 2,563 railway stations in Britain this summer.
Vicki and Geoff began their journey at Penzance. (Photo: AllTheStations).Vicki and Geoff began their journey at Penzance. (Photo: AllTheStations).
Vicki and Geoff began their journey at Penzance. (Photo: AllTheStations).

Geoff Marshall, 44, and Vicki Pipe, 34, visit 30 stations every day and have already covered more than 1,000 stops including Sheffield and Doncaster stations.

But the pair still have large swathes of South Yorkshire to tick off on their travels, with Rotherham Central, Conisbrough, Mexborough, Bentley, Adwick, Meadowhall, Dore and Totley and Chapeltown among some of the stops they have yet to visit.

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Other stops they have yet to call at are Thurnscoe, Barnsley, Goldthorpe and Dodworth - but the pair have visited Kirk Sandall and Thorne North among others.

If they complete their epic three month rail journey, they will become the first people to visit every railway station in Britain.

The couple began their adventure in Penzance, Cornwall – the most southerly station in the country – and have so far visited hundreds of stations across southern England and the Midlands.

Having visited an average of 30 stations per day, Geoff and Vicki are on track to conclude in August in Thurso, the British mainland’s most northernmost town.

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In order for a station to count as “visited”, the pair have to arrive or leave on a train that’s scheduled to stop there, so passing through on a fast train isn’t allowed.

The London Underground, Tyne & Wear Metro, Glasgow Subway, heritage railways and stations in Northern Ireland are not included.

Geoff and Vicki, from London, are using National Rail’s All Line Rover tickets, which costs £745 and allows unlimited travel for 14 consecutive days, to get around.

In total they will spend over £10,000 on train fares as part of their “All The Stations”project.

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The purpose of the project is to produce an online documentary series and the couple are uploading four videos to their YouTube channel All The Stations per week.

At the end of the journey, their series of 10-15 minute videos will be edited into a feature length film.

Geoff, a freelance video producer, is a self confessed train buff and twice held the world record for visiting all the tube stations on the London underground in the fastest possible time.

Geoff said: “One day the question ‘how long would it take to visit every train station in Britain?’ came up in conversation. I started to think about it and eventually began planning it.

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“But it’s not just about ticking off every station, we are meeting lots of nice people and visiting interesting places along the way.

“The railway gets some negative attention but it really is brilliant, there’s so much to explore and see by train. We want to show people the good bits.

“People who are watching the videos have offered to put us up in their homes as we travel through, which is amazing. We’ll be staying with someone from Liverpool who we’ve never met before.”