A dream came true for ten young railway enthusiasts when London Northwestern Railway (LNR)gave them the chance to become guards for a day.
On Thursday, 12th February, the youngsters aged between six and 11 were invited to act as ‘Junior Conductors’ on board London Northwestern Railway’s new fleet of Class 730/2 electric trains.
Their journey took them from Milton Keynes to Crewe, with the young guards greeting passengers, checking tickets, and making announcements as the train travelled along the busy West Coast Main Line. The ten lucky youngsters were chosen to represent their hometown stations along the railway’s Trent Valley route from London Euston to Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire.
To add extra realism, the junior conductors had everything a full-time conductor would need, including uniforms with high-visibility jackets, ties, and cravats, and an iconic guard’s whistle.
One of the youngsters was Dhanwin, aged 7, from Nuneaton, who expressed his excitement about becoming a conductor for the day@ He learnt about the different things a conductor does, including checking tickets, and announced his local station stop at Nuneaton. He thought it was his best day ever.
Class 730/2 electric trains, introduced onto the Trent Valley route last December, have more capacity than the trains previously used on the route. They are significantly longer, have open gangways and smart air conditioning, and every seat has USB chargers.
In a separate move aimed at showing young people what it is like to work in the railway industry, Avanti West Coast has a virtual work experience course for anyone aged 13 and over@TransPennine Express also has a virtual work experience that gives young people the chance to look behind the scenes at the railway industry.
“Our junior conductors did an excellent job today. Not only did they take their duties very seriously, they made our passengers smile throughout their journey. Working on the railway is a rewarding career, and we are determined to help inspire the next generation, so it was a joy to see so much enthusiasm from these ten children. I hope to see some familiar faces again when they embark on their future careers in the railway.”
Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director at London Northwestern Railway
Responses
I’d rather have a train conductor making the station stop announcements than the tedious automated station announcements we get on some West Midlands trains ! They are OK for passengers who may not be familiar with the route but for regulars like me they are an unwelcome irritant !
Did they have to deal with the drunks, generally abusive passengers, non-payers, and ‘orrible screaming kids?