RTHK presenters break record for visiting all MTR stations

Local radio presenters Tim Littlechild and Chantel Shafie could have been mistaken for first-time tourists, the way they religiously took photographs of all 83 station names along the 10 MTR lines.

Still, their enthusiasm got a bit too much for one fellow passenger, who asked Littlechild if he had never visited Hong Kong before, because he seemed so interested in every stop.

The pair were in fact trying to break a Guinness World Records standard, at the same time raising funds for Operation Santa Claus. On hearing this, the man recalled having seen an advertisement for the event.

"We had lots of strange looks," Shafie said. "It's great to have people who have heard about what we are doing."

The challenge yesterday was wrapped up in eight hours and 18 minutes, 42 minutes ahead of the nine hours set by Guinness based on the number of stations, travelling distance and other factors. The two RTHK Radio 3 hosts raised almost HK$100,000 - and also made Hong Kong the third city, after New York and London, to hold this world record.

The day started at about 8am in Lok Ma Chau. In between rushing to platforms at interchange stations, making live radio broadcasts every hour and uploading live feeds on social networking websites, the duo snapped a photo of each station name as required by Guinness.

It was after 4pm when they ended in Sheung Wan. They thanked MTR employees who helped plan the fastest route that repeated the fewest stations, and who showed them to staff toilets.