Railway mountaineers again took on the Three Peaks by Rail challenge in aid of Railway Children – the charity which supports vulnerable young people around the world.
This year was the event’s 15th birthday. Since the first trek, participants have summited 45 times and climbed around 50km.
This year, 172 people signed up to undertake the gruelling trek, which took place between 15-17 of June. The challenge is to scale the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland: Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in less than 48 hours.
Few were surprised to see that the BTP clocked the fastest time, completing all three mountains in just 12 hours, 19 minutes and 44 seconds.
The event raised £185,000 for Railway Children, taking the overall total to £2.7 million. To provide some context, Railway Children says a donation of just £4 will pay for a child in India to go to school for a month. Direct Rail Services raised the most money (£14,000).
Says Katie Mason, events manager at Railway Children, ‘The Three Peaks by Rail is our biggest event of the year and where we always see the rail industry at its best, all working together to raise funds for some of the most vulnerable children in society.
‘Brian Freemantle of the DfT team has now completed the challenge a record breaking 11 times and raised in that time £100,000 in support of Railway Children – an amazing achievement.
‘We had a fantastic group of volunteers on the train, many of whom help us out year after year. One of the on-board crew recorded a staggering 72,000 steps walked, so without even leaving the train they covered almost as much ground as the competitors. It just shows their amazing commitment and how integral our volunteers are to everything we’ve achieved.
‘A special thanks also goes to the companies supporting this year’s challenge – CMAC, Direct Rail Services, Network Rail, Rail Delivery Group, Rail Gourmet, Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, Riviera Trains and Virgin Trains.’
