Couple on track for wedding bells after romantic proposal at railway station

A woman from Eastbourne was left overwhelmed with joy after her partner got down on one knee in a surprise proposal at London Victoria station, with a little help from Southern Trains. Maria, 26, a pharmacist, would always meet Younan, 32, at the well-known station. Maria would take the Southern train from Eastbourne, while Younan would take the Tube, and they would go on dates and explore the city together, like a real life Gavin and Stacey, who also got engaged at a train station in the popular sitcom.

The iconic departure boards at London Victoria are a familiar sight to the millions of passengers who make their way from the capital to the South of England every year.

Last Sunday (December 19), one goodbye for Younan and Maria turned into the start of a romantic journey which will last forever.At 8pm, the list of "next fastest trains" on the screens disappeared, and was replaced with "A message from Greece to Mars... will you marry me?"

Younan, a business development exec from West London dropped to one knee and proposed to Maria.

Maria - who Younan refers to as Mars as a nickname, instantly said yes and the commuters returning home to the South for the weekend were overwhelmed with joy.

The proposal almost didn't go to plan though.

On December 19 - the couple's anniversary, engineering works meant that Maria almost couldn't get back to Eastbourne from London, meaning Younan had to convince her to take the train to Haywards Heath instead.

Then at 8pm, when the screen had been set to change to Maria's special message, there were a few seconds of hesitation where it did not appear and Maria turned around and almost missed it.

Younan added, "She loved it for sure though! I panicked because she's very clever and I thought she might have suspected something!"

Alice Attwood, from Southern's comms team said, "When Younan got in touch with his plea for support to make this very romantic gesture, we had to help!

"We were really pleased to play a small part in Younan and Maria's story and wish them well for the future!"