The State We're In

TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS ON THE 2012 NORTHERN RAIL MAP: 524
TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS ON THE 2013 NORTHERN RAIL MAP: 532

TOTAL STATIONS COLLECTED AS OF 31/12/2012: 158

TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS COLLECTED IN 2013: 136

TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS THAT WERE ADDED TO THE MAP AND I COUNTED WITHOUT THINKING BECAUSE I COLLECTED THEM AGES AGO, ONLY TO HAVE THEM REALLY MUCK UP MY SPREADSHEET AND HAVE ME SCRATCHING MY HEAD WHEN I LOOKED AT MY FIGURES JUST NOW: 1 (Liverpool Central)

TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS COLLECTED: 295
TOTAL NUMBER OF STATIONS STILL TO COLLECT: 237

PERCENTAGE COMPLETE: 55%

The map above shows all the stations on the map, with those highlighted yellow already crossed off.  There's a big patch in the top left that's uncollected.  Staffordshire and Derbyshire still have some holes.  The North East is also very patchy, and the Grimsby line is completely untouched: partly the fault of a landslip blocking the line for ages, partly due to the fact it's miles away.

In terms of the Passenger Transport Executives (the coloured areas) - well, I've completed Merseytravel, obviously.  West Yorkshire is the most tarted of the other PTEs, with 64% of its stations under my belt; next is Greater Manchester with 56%, South Yorkshire with 52%, and Tyne & Wear with 33%.  That last one sounds impressive, but there are actually only 6 stations in the orange area.

Other essential stats, for those of you who like that sort of thing:

MOST POPULAR POST OF 2013: This rather sniffy one about Northern Rail's Movember, which makes me think I must turn up on some Google hit somewhere. 

MOST POPULAR POST WHICH IS ACTUALLY ABOUT ME: The tally of all the stations I visited on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which makes me think you people only come here for the bullet points, and my carefully crafted prose is distinctly unimportant. 

MUSICAL ACTS WHO HAD THEIR WORKS APPROPRIATED FOR BLOG POST TITLES: The Zutons, Steeleye Span, Kylie Minogue, Blur, Oasis, Status Quo, T-Rex, Lady Gaga, Doris Day, Girls Aloud.

NUMBER OF DESPERATE REFERENCES TO RUSSELL TOVEY IN THE HOPE THAT HE GOOGLES HIMSELF AND REALISES WE ARE MADE FOR EACH OTHER: I'd rather not say.

BAFFLING GOOGLE SEARCH WHICH KEEPS RESULTING IN BLOG HITS: "Penelope Keith's tits".  While I am a great admirer of the former Margot Leadbetter, I'm sorry, you're not going to get anything of that sort round here.

NUMBER OF CORPORATE FREEBIES AND/OR INVITES TO CHRISTMAS PARTIES I'VE RECEIVED FROM NORTHERN RAIL: None.  Not a sausage.  Not so much as a single purple flip flop.  Obviously I'm not in it for the gifts, but come on guys, how about chucking a Northern Rail biro my way or something?  Look at all the free publicity I give you!  I'm almost always nice.

SUGGESTIONS RECEIVED FOR WHERE I SHOULD VISIT NEXT: Antwerp station, Ireland, Wales, every station in the United Kingdom.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO'VE OFFERED TO PAY ME TO VISIT THESE PLACES: Zero.

BEST STATION OF 2013: Redcar British Steel, obviously.

WORST STATION OF 2013: Pickering - not because it was particularly awful, but because it was on the map when it shouldn't have been there (it's a heritage station!) and so I object to it on principle. 

NUMBER OF BLOG POSTS IN 2013: 100.

Which seems like an appropriate place to stop.