Subway 202: Can You Hit All The Stations In Just One Day?

As you're reading this there are two brave Australians trying to visit all of the stations on the Beijing Subway in a single day. Subway Saturday, the pair are calling it and it they began at International Exhibition Center station at 5.37am. The duo, Michael K. Sheridan and son Oscar, are planning to get out at each of the 202 stations on the numbered Beijing Subway lines (ie. not the Batong line), snap a picture for posterity and dash back on to a train. This is not the first time that this has happened – we covered the last attempt (based on London's "rules") by two Global Times reporters when the subway last expanded two years back – but it's the biggest challenge that we know of. We spoke to Michael before the big day got underway ... and we'll report back, whether they win or lose. Will they set a new record? Will anyone else challenge it? Is it cheating to do it on the weekend? Those are questions for another time, but here's Michael.

What on earth inspired this?
We were talking after Christmas lunch and decided it would be a cool challenge. We looked around on Google and couldn’t find anything like it so we thought we would give it a shot.

How long do you think it's going to take you?
Everyone is still making predictions but I think about 11-12 hours but most people think I’m being too optimistic. [Chris Hawke of the Global Times took around 16 hours – Ed.]

Are you confident you'll hit the target?
Confidence is our middle name, but there are many people who say it’s impossible. We disagree and think that it is perfectly doable.

Have you ever done anything similar?
No, never before.

How will you reward yourself?
A cold beer at the end of the day. We are, of course, seeking sponsorships!

If you succeed, do you plan to defend your record against challengers?
We will try, but due to our starting location I think that other people who live in a better area to start will be able to beat us if they try as hard as we will. However, we will accept challengers and recognize them for their efforts. If they beat us they will be record breakers but we will always be the record makers!

What's next?
Possibly Tram Tuesday in Melbourne, Tube Tuesday in London, Waterway Wednesday in Sydney or Subway Sunday in New York. We are aiming to start a worldwide movement of people who want to fully explore their public transportation networks.

We wish them luck. Find out how they got on at their site, Subway Saturday.