Fitchburg Man Hopes To Set World Record On MBTA Rides

CANTON, MA - Fitchburg man Martyn Royce has a passion for trains. He is using his love of them as a vehicle to raise money and awareness about train travel benefits and breast cancer, the latter in honor of his mother-in-law.

In a story on Boston 25 Tuesday, Royce explained that he took on the two-day challenge beginning Monday to go to every stop on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's commuter rail system - all 132 of them -to set a mark recognized by the Guiness World Records.

He began Tuesday's journey before dawn, hitting Worcester before going to Back Bay to switch to the Providence/Stoughton line to visit Wickford and ride to Canton Junction.

Trains are what drives Royce. An immigrant of the United Kingdom, he had a decade of history working on their transit system, according to his fundraiser page with the American Cancer Society, aptly titled "Royce on the Rails."

He currently works for Keolis, the company that operates and maintains the commuter rail system. This gave him the knowledge on how to best plan his journey of 684 miles.

While others have set the world record for the fastest times on the subway system, Royce chose to make his mark on the commuter rail to promote rail travel.

"Cancer has affected my family in so many different ways, and it affects millions of families each and every day," he said on his fundraising page. "In March 2018, I lost my closest cousin to bowel cancer. And most recently, back in September of 2021 my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer."

His mother-in-law is finishing her eighth round of chemotherapy before undergoing radiation.

Along the way, Royce said he chatted with conductors, most of whom were enthusiastic about his driven mission to support his mother-in-law.

"But it’s fair to say a few of them, in equal measure, think I’m absolutely nuts," he said in the television interview. "Which is fine. They’re not wrong,”

To donate to Royce's cause, click here. As of Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., he raised $850 toward his $1,000 goal. One donation came from Colorado.