238 people squeeze onto world’s longest railway bench

By Nathan Pynn

Mind the gap! Amazing pictures show 238 people crammed onto the world’s longest railway bench.

The brave souls squeezed onto the 139m (456ft) wooden seat at Scarborough train station.

It was built in 1883 on platform 1 to accommodate the growing number of visitors flocking to the northern seaside town.

The single-seat bench is the same length as seven railway carriages or 12 double-decker buses.

When it was unveiled, its architect, William Bell boasted that 230 people could sit on the bench at one time.

The Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership (YCCRP) set the challenge to find out if this was still the case 142 years after it was built.

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, 238 locals and train fans wedged themselves onto the Victorian bench, with town crier David Birdsall sitting down first.

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Each participant had an average gap of just 51.8cm (20.4ins) to fit themselves onto the relic.

Rachel Osborne, Community Rail Officer for YCCRP, said: “All the books say it can seat 230 people but there was a little bit of dispute about that.

“We wanted to put the claim to the test and see and were amazed to get 238 people sitting down at the same time.”

Train fan and resident Oliver Lawson, 20, said: “It was quite a squeeze but everyone was told ‘bums on seats’ and down we went.

“It was a lot of fun. Most passengers probably have no idea they are sitting on the world’s longest bench.”

The bench challenge was one of dozens of events taking place around the UK to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.

Organizers directed people to sit down in groups of 20 to prevent people from getting injured.

The bench has Grade II-listed status and in 2020 the seats and backrests were upgraded while the hundreds of nuts and bolts holding it together were replaced.