‘World’s longest station bench’ seats record crowd in Scarborough

Hundreds of people have squeezed onto what is claimed to be the world’s longest station bench to mark a railway milestone.

The Grade II listed bench, on platform one at Scarborough railway station, is about 456ft (139m) long, with 239 people filling the vast seat to mark the 200th anniversary of the first British passenger rail journey.

The celebration, organised by the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership (YCCRP), aimed to beat its previous record of 200 people seated side-by-side.

Pete Myers, chair of YCCRP, said: “We only planned to put 200 on the bench, but managed well above that.”

The bench, installed in 1883 to accommodate growing numbers of Victorian tourists heading to the seaside, is the length of about 12 double-decker buses.

The event, which saw many of the participants don Victorian outfits, was part of national celebrations marking 200 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first in the world to operate passenger and freight trains.

Among those taking a break was 72-year-old Elithea Francis, who said she was “here to be a part of history”.

Ms Francis, originally from South Africa and a North Yorkshire resident of 28 years, said: “My grandfather, who was based in Doncaster, used to drive the trains from Kings Cross to Scotland and used to drive the Flying Scotsman.”

Rachael Osbourne, community rail officer for YCCRP, said: “The huge bench was fixed to a retaining wall on platform one, which was known as an excursion platform.

“As holiday traffic increased in the late 1800s, they had to build longer platforms and platform one was specifically used for that enormous holiday traffic.”

She added: “It’s hard nowadays to imagine how busy it was, but the bench would be filled with people waiting for trains – the railway company wouldn’t have built a bench of this length if they didn’t need it.”

YCCRP said the bench is the “longest station seat in the world”, with local sixth form college students also helping to set the new record.

Mr Myers, from the YCCRP, said: “Scarborough owes its reputation as a tourist hotspot to the railways.

“That’s why North Eastern Railway put this ridiculously long bench here.”

Shortly after announcing the final total to the crowd, David Birdsall, Scarborough’s town crier, said it was “fantastic seeing all these people sitting on this bench, everyone is so happy to join in with this”.