Moaning about trains has become a national sport in Britain, where a special kind of antipathy is reserved for our much-maligned railway network.

And why not? Trains in this country are expensive, overcrowded and beset by delays – and don’t even get us started on the overpaid railway bosses. Yes, the less said about our railways the better.

Or maybe not. According to documentary makers Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe, our beleaguered railway network provides the best platform (excuse the pun) from which to explore this eccentric isle of ours.

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And they’d know. The couple are currently visiting all 2,563 railway stations in Great Britain, an odyssey that will take around three months, and yesterday reached a milestone: their 1,000th station. Michael Portillo eat your heart out.

That all sounds rather quaint, but it begs the question: why? Well, the idea of visiting every station started as a joke after Geoff set a world record for visiting all the stations on the London Underground in the fastest time. That joke then became reality when the pair were looking for a way to “cheer themselves up” after a depressing 2016.

“David Bowie died, Alan Rickman died, Victoria Wood died, and just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse Brexit and Trump happened,” said Geoff. “So we wanted something bright and wonderful to look forward to in 2017.”

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The pair decided they would use their epic trip to film a documentary about Britain’s railways and to inspire more people to explore the country by train.

Their £10,000 journey was funded via a Kickstarter campaign and is being chronicled daily on their YouTube channel. A documentary will follow when the trip is over and all the footage will be donated to the London Transport Museum, where Vicki works as an education professional.

So what have these rail anoraks learned so far?

1. The trains are actually quite punctual

Weary commuters might find it hard to believe, but Geoff and Vicki claim their journey thus far has been largely free from delays. “One thing I will say is that the railways have been remarkably reliable,” Geoff told Telegraph Travel. “A lot of people complain that the trains are always late, but we haven’t had many problems.”

2. Train travel is cheaper than you think

Again, commuters might need some convincing, but Geoff and Vicki assure us that deals abound. “If you book far enough in advance for off-peak travel then you can get some amazing discounts,” said Geoff, an advocate of railcards. “If you’re a young person get a 16-24 Railcard, if you’re a senior citizen get a Senior Railcard, if you live in the south east get a Network Railcard. They are brilliant – you can get a third off.”

3. Railways have shaped British politics (probably)

In “isolated” Skegness the couple concluded that parts of Britain might be less parochial if Beeching hadn’t axed so many rail lines in the Sixties. “Did Beeching inadvertently change the politics of a nation?” mused Geoff. “If there were more trains and we were better connected – and people were able to travel to meet other people, see other places and expand their horizons – would we be a less divided nation?” Answers on a postcard, please.

4. There’s a discount rail pass that nobody's heard of

And it’s called the All Line Rover. Costing £492, it allows unlimited travel on Britain’s rail network for seven days, which seems expensive when you compare it to, say, an InterRail ticket. However, the rail anoraks swear by it. “It’s been great,” said Geoff, though he admits some ticket inspectors have never heard of it. “One guy had to go and check it was valid.”

5. Some stations have rock ‘n’ roll connections

“Yesterday we were were at Cromford station – on the branch line between Derby and Matlock – and realised that it was used in the photoshoot for the Oasis single Some Might Say,” said Geoff. “We thought it be fun to recreate the cover.” Then the owner of the station building (now a private residence) turned up, let them into the property and helped the couple recreate the sleeve of the single. “He even fetched us a wheelbarrow,” said Geoff.

Geoff and Vicki try to recreate the sleeve for the 1995 Oasis single Some Might Say Credit: ALL THE STATIONS

And here's the actual version

6. You meet interesting people on trains

“We’ve met so many fascinating people already – people who use the railways for all kinds of reasons – showing just how diverse the railways are,” said Vicki. “Travelling from Penzance to Liskeard, we met a lovely man who was heading home after completing his own epic adventure – he’d walked 1,000 miles around the south coast of England to raise money for Parkinson’s UK. People have been so happy to chat to us.”

7. Railway statistics hide the truth

“Last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, Shippea Hill was the least used railway station in Britain – only 12 people travelled from the station,” said Vicki. “To try and beat the statistics we got 19 people to come with us and travel from Shippea Hill.” While trying to massage the figures, Geoff and Vicki met a group of women who were playing the same game. “These three ladies decided that throughout the year they would go into Norwich together to do their shopping and boost the figures.”

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8. Railways can help reveal your family history

“My mum did a bit of research before our trip and discovered that my great, great granddad was actually a signalman at Shippea Hill station,” said Vicki. “We had a Who Do You Think You Are? moment when we visited the station.”

9. Our railways are actually quite old fashioned

“We recently went through Brundall which has a manually-operated level crossing,” recalled Vicki. “It was wonderful to see this man come out every two or three minutes to operate the crossing. It’s quite a rarity on the network nowadays because most crossings are automated. It’s fascinating to see these old fashioned systems working seamlessly with other high-tech systems.”

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10. The journey should probably take 10 months

And here’s the rub: Geoff and Vicki aren’t getting off the train at every station, leading to accusations from some quarters that they are cheating. The couple are, however, only taking trains that stop at every station, allowing them the opportunity to poke their heads out the door or quickly hop on the platform. “Some stations only have a service once every four hours,” said Geoff. “If we got out at every station the trip would take us 10 months, rather than three.”

11. They are NOT trainspotters, honestly

“We haven’t written down a single train number,” said Geoff. “Can I just stress that?”

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12. We should all take the train to somewhere random

“Go and take a random journey to somewhere you haven’t been before – there are some great places in Britain,” said Geoff. “Have an experience, talk to a stranger and just enjoy a great day out.”

For more information about Geoff and Vicki’s rail odyssey, visit allthestations.co.uk.