Railway Worker’s UK Train Ticket Collection Project Gains Widespread Support

Train enthusiasts have united to assist a railway employee in his endeavor to gather train tickets from every station across the UK. Elliott Badger initiated the All Aboard to Northampton project in 2020, and by September, he had amassed 2,100 tickets, which was approximately 600 fewer than the required total. This past Saturday, a contingent of railway aficionados aided Mr. Badger in adding 18 additional stations to his collection, navigating replacement bus services, engineering disruptions, and commencing journeys from less frequented stations. He stated, “It’s absolutely amazing that so many people would do this just to get tickets for the ticket wall – incredible.” Mr. Badger further commented, “I had no idea how many people would take part or how far apart some of the places would be – hopefully more people will come, look at the board and see what stations are missing.” The collected tickets are arranged alphabetically, with vacant spots reserved for the stations yet to be acquired. Among the destinations now featured on his display are Crouch Hill, South Tottenham, and Gospel Oak in London, alongside Shippea Hill in Cambridgeshire (noted as one of Britain’s least-used stations), and Wedgwood in Staffordshire. Sarah Ward reported, “I’ve come from Hopton Heath, but unfortunately it was a bus replacement service.” She described the location, stating, “It’s quite remote, it’s a village and at one point it was the least-used station in Shropshire.” Ms. Ward expressed her interest in the project, describing it as “so exciting – social history in the making.” Luke Agbaimoni, who contributed his ticket to the Northampton display, remarked, “I’ve come from Wimbledon Chase in London and I’d never even heard of the station, which is funny as I’ve heard of loads of stations.” Mr. Agbaimoni, aged 44, is an author and photographer known for a tube map project that endeavors to document a specific moment at each stop on the London Underground. He conveyed his enthusiasm, stating, “I’m very excited about this project – I’m a big advocate for anything artistic, hence my Underground project – and I love collections.” He further elaborated, “I’m collecting every Underground station – and this is a collection of every train ticket, so for me it just rings so many bells.” Mags Luckhurst, 27, provided tickets from Ancaster and Rauceby stations, both situated in Lincolnshire. They explained the logistical challenges: “They don’t have an hourly service and not every train stops there, so we first had to go to Nottingham, that went to Sleaford and then we paid a friend – bought him some McDonalds – to give us a lift to our stations.” They continued, “Then the train was delayed by 40 minutes, so we had a bit of a nightmare with our connections but we’re here; we made it.” Their motivation for participating was articulated as, “I like really niche nerdy stuff like this… the idea of this wall being completed is really exciting.” Eesa Ashraf, 21, who learned of the initiative through a friend, stated, “My journey began at Drayton Green, in Ealing, London.” He recounted, “When he said we were going to complete the Northampton [ticket challenge], I said, ‘Fantastic, I’ll come along too’.” Mr. Ashraf expressed his long-standing interest, saying, “I’ve always been a big train fan since I was small, I’ve been on some train trips with my grandad especially, so I’ve got a deep passion for trains.” For updates on Northamptonshire news, consult BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.