
A celebration of the longest station seat in the world will take place at Scarborough station later this month as rail enthusiasts aim to fill the bench from end to end.
The Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership (YCCRP) are staging the event at Scarborough station on 30th September at 11am as part of their Railway 200 celebrations. Together with the Old Parcels Offices, they will be celebrating the longest station seat in the world which is on Scarborough station's platform 1.
The seat which dates back to 1883 was designed by NER architect William Bell and was added to the station to cope with the growing amount of excursion traffic and visitors to the coast.
It is 139 metres long and is said to accommodate around 230 people. The YCCRP will be putting that claim to the test on 30th September by seeing how many people they can seat on it side by side.
Scarborough sixth form students will be coming to help fill the bench and many of them will be dressed in period costumes from the various decades over the last 200 years as a celebration of Railway 200.
The event which is supported and funded by Transpennine Express is intended to bring people together to celebrate this important and interesting piece of local railway history.
Andrew Watkins, Communities & Development Manager at TransPennine Trains, said:
“We’re delighted to be supporting this unique celebration of Scarborough’s record-breaking station seat as part of Railway 200.
The bench is a wonderful symbol of the town’s railway heritage, and events like this help bring history to life in a fun and inclusive way.
It’s fantastic to see young people and the community getting involved, and we’re proud to play our part in marking this milestone.”
Emma Roberts, programme manager for Railway 200, said:
“This is a fantastic, fun contribution to the railway’s 200th anniversary celebrations. I hope Scarborough’s many rail customers will be sitting comfortably for many years to come!”
Community Rail Officer Rachel Osborne said:
“Scarborough is famous for its long station seat and we are proud to be bringing people together to celebrate it.”
Organisers say that all are welcome to the event and refreshments and souvenirs will be available.
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