Mind the gap!

An intrepid charity volunteer went underground to complete a long-held ambition to visit every single Tube station in London.

Over the course of a weekend, Matthew Dunderdale, 38, visited all 270 stations on the network within 24 hours.

Beginning at Morden at the southern end of the Northern line at 4.15am one Saturday, his ’Dunderground’ route took him to far-flung outreaches of the Tube map such as Cockfosters and Heathrow Terminal 5 at each end of the Piccadilly line and Amersham, on the Metropolitan.

After 18 hours of travelling, he stopped for the night at 10.30pm and resumed his challenge at 10am the following day, finally completing his journey at Kensington (Olympia) on the District line at about 3pm.

Twinning his love of the Underground with a decision to give something back, Matthew also decided to raise money for Autism Initiatives Isle of Man, based on May Hill in Ramsey, and has raised donations totalling more than £600 so far, having originally set himself a target of £500.

Matthew, who works part-time at the Co-op in Ramsey and is also a volunteer for Manx Blind Welfare, said: ’Stepping foot on the platform at Olympia to finally complete the two-day adventure was amazing.

’It was tiring but I can honestly say if it’s a London tube station, I have been to it - at least until the Northern Line Extension opens and currently that is scheduled for autumn 2021.’

He explained the aim is not to physically set foot on each station and so long as the trains leaves or stops at the platform, it counts.

The world record for the Tube challenge stands at 15 hours, 45 minutes and 38 seconds.

Matthew said he spent a couple of months on and off planning his route but he added: ’Things didn’t go quite to plan on the day and we had to go back on Sunday to finish it off. My aim was never to break the record.’ He was joined on part of the challenge by his brother Ben, and later by his parents Gill and Paul.

There were a couple of points where time could be saved by getting the bus between tube stations, for instance between High Barnet and Cockfosters, and between Stanmore and Edgeware.

The Tube challenge covers 270 stations and does not include the Docklands Light Railway.

It does include the Waterloo and City but Matthew said he didn’t need to travel on that line as its two stations, Waterloo and Bank, are served by other lines.

Matthew said London Underground had always fascinated him and his favourite stations are Wembley Park and Southfields because of their sporting associations (Southfields is the nearest stop for Wimbledon).

Asked whether the Paris Metro could be his next challenge, he said: ’It’s a possibility one day, but not immediately!’

Donations are still being accepted and can be sent directly to Autism Initiatives.