A train enthusiast and control room train services manager for Govia Thameslink Railway aims to achieve a record by visiting all 2,580 of Great Britain's railway stations in just six weeks.
Dave Jones, 34, of Three Bridges in West Sussex, will chart his ‘Great British Rail Adventure' on social media and hopes to average 62 stations each day.
To qualify for the record, his trains have to stop at every station. Along with two colleagues, he used the railway industry train tracking system and National Rail Enquiries to plan his journey.
They produced a 6ft by 2ft map of Great Britain with a small image of Dave on which his colleagues can track his progress as he updates them with his latest position via social media.
Dave started his adventure on 19 February from Three Bridges station, where he works in the Sussex Rail Operating Centre.
When he has not been working he has been stopping at as many stations as possible, but tomorrow, Wednesday, 28 February) he a month's leave to pursue his quest.
Dave will be visiting the Isle of Wight and the Island Line's eight stations, as well as the scenic routes of the West Highlands, Cornwall and Wales.
Anyone wishing to contribute to Dave's venture can do so at his fundraising page by clicking here.
Dave can be followed on Twitter (X) (@railadventure89), Instagram (greatbritishrailadventure ), and YouTube.
Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe are the only other people known to have visited all stations in Great Britain. They completed their tour in 2017 after taking 14 weeks, 6 days and 22 minutes and visited 2,563 stations, which is 17 fewer than there are today.
Dave said: “I'll be sleeping on board wherever I can. I'll be on my own so the thing I'm dreading most is keeping my mental health going.
“Some people call me brave. Some people call me bonkers. And some people call me other things which I can't repeat.”
“It's all for charity, I'm splitting the money I raise between Great Ormond Street Hospital and the children's intensive care unit at the Oslo University Hospital.
“I referee Sunday park football and the Oslo hospital saved a friend's life when she was refereeing there on tour. She had a nasty freak accident on the pitch that split her spleen. If it hadn't been for the medics, this would have been more of a memorial trip.
“I also want to highlight how great the railways are and encourage people to visit fantastic destinations across the network.”
Geoff Marshall said: “I take my hat off to Dave. He must be mad to try this! Good luck to him.”
How is he going to accomplish that in between the strikes?
He will have problems with Reddish South and Denton. One train a week in one direction, but very good luck to him
Good Luck Dave:
I could never positively establish whether Geoff and Vicki got to Whitley Bridge, Snaith, Strensall, Rawcliffe, Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey and Brigg ? Very infrequent trains and poor connections made those stations difficult. I hope this was helpful and good luck again.
Roger Marsh