Couple Met During a Fateful Encounter on a Train. Just 1 Year Later, They Got Engaged on the Same Rail Line

Love on the Late Train: Couple Get Engaged on the Same Service Where They First Met

After a chance encounter on a late-night London train, one couple has officially begun their next chapter — on that very same service.

In November 2024, Steve Higgs was heading home after drinks with friends when he boarded the 23:09 London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service from Euston to Milton Keynes, according to The Railway Magazine and an LNR press release. During the journey, he noticed a woman, Payal Pandya, standing nearby and offered her his seat.

Higgs, 56, and Pandya, 49, soon fell into conversation, and both quickly sensed there was something special between them.

“I remember her mentioning she’d just been on a first date where – luckily for me – sparks hadn’t flown,” Higgs recalled in the release. “Even though we only spoke for about twenty minutes, I knew I wanted to see her again.”

Pandya said she told Higgs she’d met her date that night through a dating app. Shortly after she got off at her local station in Harrow, Higgs managed to track down her profile and sent her a message.

“We arranged our first date not long after, and the rest is history,” she said.

Over the next year, the pair fondly referred to the 23:09 LNR service as their “encounter-versary,” Pandya shared in the release. What she didn’t know was that Higgs was secretly planning to turn that anniversary into an engagement she’d never forget.

Higgs arranged to propose to Pandya on the same date, on the same route where they first met. He got in touch with LNR beforehand so the train operator could help set the scene. When a special announcement came over the train’s speakers, that was Higgs’ signal to drop to one knee and ask Pandya to marry him.

“I can’t believe Steve proposed to me on that same service and even got the conductor involved without me having a clue!” Pandya told LNR after she said “yes.”

The couple told LNR they plan to move in together next year, with “full steam ahead” on wedding planning after that. They’re hoping to tie the knot next summer.

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director at LNR, said his team was delighted to be part of the surprise.

“I want to say a huge congratulations to them both and wish them all the very best for their future together,” Wiseman said in the release. “Their story is a fantastic example of how the railway doesn’t just connect people to places — it connects them to one another too.”