Have you got a favourite train driver? We have. And thanks to the wonder of Twitter, I now know his name, and discovered that he has dedicated countless hours to visiting schools to teach children about the dangers of playing on the railway.
Dave Newell is a train driver on Chiltern Railways. He became our favourite train driver on a Friday night over five years ago. Karen and I both commuted to London at the time, and were travelling home together after a night out in town. A group of drunken youths were behaving badly, and we were very impressed and reassured by the firm and effective way Mr Newell challenged them. Yesterday, I was delighted to recognise his voice on the tannoy as I travelled home. He was giving friendly advice to take care on icy platforms. I chatted to him when I got off at Beaconsfield. He greeted me with his characteristic smile and asked if the heating was working inside the train (it was) as he had no heating in the cab.
I tweeted about my favourite train driver yesterday, and Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway) responded. As a result of our Twitter conversation, we confirmed the identity of the driver. Even better, I learned that Dave won
Rail Safety Person of the Year award at the prestigious
Rail Staff Awards in October. The prize was presented by Pete Waterman and Pino De Rosa. Tom O’Connor, Rail Media Group, which organises the awards, said: ‘This is a highly deserved award for a person who saves lives and whose influence has directly made the railways a safer place. We should all thank people like Dave Newell." We certainly should, especially when Dave and his colleagues are doing all they can to keep the trains running in arctic conditions.
Chiltern Railways deserves credit for the way it has embraced social media. It responded very quickly to my tweet, and was keen to highlight Dave Newell's recognition. It is active on Twitter and Facebook. It clearly appreciates the benefits of keeping its customers and the community informed about its work.
Comments