Article: 1 day, 205 stations, 17 hours, 25 minutes

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

1 day, 205 stations, 17 hours, 25 minutes

1 day, 205 stations, 17 hours, 25 minutes
Clay Lucas
July 22, 2011

YOU can call him eccentric. Perhaps you can even call him a trainspotter. But you can't call Lachlan Campbell a quitter.

In January, a delay on the Epping line foiled the 19-year-old's first attempt to achieve his dream: to stop at every railway station in Melbourne on one day.

Like Everest, this mountain had been conquered before Mr Campbell got to it.

In 2008, Melbourne man Heath Tully zipped through the 369-kilometre journey in 18 hours and 18 minutes.

Ever since, Mr Campbell - a psychology student and son of a train driver - has been planning to better that time, by almost an hour.

Yesterday, he tried a second time.

Why? ''Why not?'' he said. ''Everyone's got a goal; it's mine. It's better than wasting your life away in front of a computer.''

A precise schedule, which Mr Campbell spent a year developing, is required to get to every station in less than 18 hours. It all falls apart if too many trains are late or cancelled.

In January his schedule was thrown into disarray after Metro cancelled one train, and then a sick passenger delayed another one.

Yesterday, Mr Campbell launched his journey at 4.32am, on the first train from Hurstbridge.

''I only slept a couple hours,'' he said mid-morning, as he sailed through Mooroolbark station. He put the lack of sleep down, in part, to ''the excitement of doing it again''.

Using his concession myki card (70¢ cheaper than using a Metcard), Mr Campbell was travelling yesterday with not just one companion, as he had in January, but six.

''It's got more of an uplifting feel to it, [being] with others,'' he said, cheerfully, late yesterday afternoon.

In the lead-up to yesterday's attempt, Mr Campbell contacted Transport Minister Terry Mulder, who did not respond, and Metro, to tell them of his attempt.

A Metro employee wrote back, wishing him the best of luck.

Mr Campbell's assessment of the system yesterday would have been music to the ears of Metro's public relations team.

''Everything's been pretty much running to clockwork, which has been a bit of a shock.''

Fewer than five trains over the course of the day were significantly late, and none were cancelled, he said. And, in a rare good news story for transport in this city, Mr Campbell last night achieved his dream, completing his circuit of Melbourne's rail system in a record 17 hours and 25 minutes.

''I just feel relieved it's over,'' he said, as he took the final train to Pakenham.

Having climbed his personal mountain, The Age asked Mr Campbell last night what challenge he would tackle next.

The answer should have come as no surprise.

''I will be doing it again. There are heaps of little extensions to the network.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/1-day-205-stations-17-hours-25-minutes-20110721-1hr66.html