Bishop Line CRP Officer Felicity and Northern’s Community and Sustainability Manager for the North East, Marie, join 21-year-old John on his journey to Bishop Auckland to find out how the Bishop Line service has helped him travel to his work placement at Weardale Railway, supported by Hiyed CIC.
To set the scene, Felicity and Marie meet John on platform 4 at Darlington station to catch the 0823 to Bishop Auckland. Marie has worked for Northern for many years in customer facing roles and now supports CRPs in the North East, and Felicity has been the officer for Bishop Line CRP for over 7 years so they’re both experienced travellers. As the Northern train approaches a few minutes early, although a little confused at its early arrival, they step forward to board the train when John announces, “You do realise this is the Newcastle train, don’t get this one!” And it’s quickly evident that John has become a very capable rail traveller. Thank goodness he was there to keep them right!
Once aboard the correct train, John begins to explain about his work placement, “I’ve been there for the last 10 weeks. I’ve been learning how to clean old trains and keep them spotless. I’ve been cleaning the station around, mostly painting the fences and watering flowers. I’ve been generally doing a bit of everything. It’s never the same day up there, it always changes. There are some jobs that are usually the same, but cleaning trains, they’re very few and far between. But when they come about and I can get myself on them, that’s great.”
Felicity asks John if he has a favourite train at Weardale to which he responds “Yes, I know it’s very controversial, but it’s the 142”. Marie and John reminisce about when the 142s were used on the Bishop Line. He declares that the bubble car at Weardale is also really good.
John continues to explain how he got the work placement at Weardale. “When I went to Hiyed, they knew what I wanted to do, which was to at least try and get into a train operating company. And hopefully one day drive their trains. The staff at Hiyed had some links to Weardale Railway so they asked if I could go up there and do a youth trailblazer for 10 weeks. Of course, they said yes. I had a trial day, to see how I would be and how things would go, everything went well and I passed that trial day then it just went from there.”
John explains how he explored a few different options at college before realising the rail industry was for him.
“I went to Darlington College and studied art to begin with, found that wasn’t the pathway I wanted to go to. Then I studied business, which I passed level 3 distinction on. I had one more term in college, that was at Stockton Riverside College, and that was my track maintenance class. I learned how to take apart two types of tracks and put it all back together within a team.”
John keenly points out that he has taken apart and reassembled track similar to the line they are travelling on.
John explains that he is interested in being either a driver, a dispatcher or something in a customer service position. He comments, “They’re all good roles and obviously have their own quirks to them and stuff that can obviously happen like rowdy passengers and things like that.” But he doesn’t seem fazed.
John describes how he has built his confidence travelling to Weardale. “The first two weeks I was brought up there and back by car and then to build up my confidence Tracy from Hiyed said to me, you have to meet us halfway so you get on the train or a bus and we’ll meet you at Bishop Auckland and take you the rest of the way. So, I decided, well, train by nature. Best thing to do.”
He adds, “I normally meet Tracy at Bishop Auckland Station, although it can sometimes be other people from Hiyed as well. But at the moment I’ve been getting Hiyed Taxi because they’ve been stepping back and letting me be there on my own to see how I cope. And so far, so good. I’ve coped really well.”
Marie remarks on how confident John seems. He explains that although this has built his confidence in travelling by train independently, he has travelled by train since he was little. “I’ve travelled on loads of trains, even back during the GNER days when I was pretty small. It’s been our main state of travel since I was young. We only got a car in 2019, so well before then I was used to train travel.”
Felicity asks John what his favourite train journey has been so far. He replies, “It would have to be when I went from Darlington all the way to King’s Cross. First time ever. I was in a group of college students, with our college teachers on a nice trip. We’d done well in the year, so they took us around Christmas time. I got to experience how rowdy and busy the tube is around about 5pm on a Christmas night. Apart from being almost squashed on the Northern line, I was fine.”
The group remark on how those busy experiences make you realise just how calm the journey on the Bishop Line can feel.
Wanting to understand how much John has grown in confidence; Felicity asks whether he has travelled by himself on journeys other than those to Bishop Auckland. John explains that this is a new journey for him, but he has experience travelling in the opposite direction “To get to Stockton Riverside College on a morning, I travelled by train on the 0800 which got me in for 0823, which was plenty of time to walk into college, wake myself up before walking up the stairs, you know? It’s a nice walk. I did that between January and March, so I had plenty of time to get used to travelling by train on my own. So, this is just normal for me now.”
John describes his course at Stockton further. “We had an actual Network Rail certified test track, so it was cleared by Network Rail, and I was taught by ex-Network Rail personnel. It was an outdoor track, so I was out in all the elements. But we had to get used to it because obviously they worked through all the weathers to maintain and fix the track. So, they were seeing it as, you may as well get used to the rain now. You may as well get used to taking out ‘fish plate bolts’ and ‘pandrol clips’ in the rain because that’s what’s going to happen when you’re out there, so that’s what we did, we got used to it. In full PPE and everything.”
He explains how he has plans to go to Newcastle by train very soon, to get his brother something for his birthday. “I go with my family usually, but if I have to make any trips on my own, I kind of do.”
John explains his plans for after his work placement. “I’m hopefully going to be helped into employment. They’re going to put me on a scheme that lasts for a year that helps me get into employment. Because I want to get into the railway sector, they’re going to try and get me in there as much as I can, you know, maybe whether it be cleaning trains, whether it’s a customer service role, even if it’s an apprenticeship, I’ll take it on. So whichever company says Yes, that’s OK.”
Marie asks John about his life outside of his work placement. John replies, “I play a train simulator game on my console. It’s better than Minecraft, It’s pretty realistic. It’s good practice for driving trains, because I like to drive it realistically, and it has tools that allow you to do that, like registering the GSMR properly, adhering to whistle boards, safety system set up, you know? It’s kind of real life, yeah. It’s Train Sim World and we’re actually getting a Northern core into it as well, which is great. It means we’re going to have Northern trains in the actual simulator? We’re in real stations, driving for real licensed companies. We don’t have the current Bishop Line route in the simulator just yet. We have a backdated route set in 1989 but it doesn’t have any of the modern rolling stock.”
John and Marie talk about the simulators which the Northern drivers use in training.
The conversation comes back around to John’s travels and his experiences of buying tickets. “I like buying a real physical ticket from a machine, I don’t use the app at all, but if I ever had to, if they were to stop making printed tickets, I would, because then it would just be convenient. Scan through the ticket barrier, let them scan the phone, easy.”
John comments that he uses “a comprehensive app called Real Time Trains” to check to see if his train is running on time. He adds “I can always check what service my Northern train is on the morning, what unit number it is, what platform, if it’s running on time, if it’s late, 9 times out, 10, pretty on time on this line. And the app doesn’t really let me down”.
John recalls a day where he was late due to a late running inbound train due to an incident that day. He says “That’s as far as I’ll put it because I know it’s not great when incidents do happen on the railways, it impacts drivers a lot. But other than that, yeah, we’re pretty fine on these trains”.
He adds, “If there’s a cancellation, I usually just stay on the station for the next train. I don’t really go for any refunded tickets though. I personally think when things like that happen, it’s usually out of their hands. Nine times out of ten it is. So, I don’t really go for any refunds because I’m one of these people who, as long as the train turns up, I’m happy. And these things just happen”.
As we pass Locomotion, John spots the old 142 which used to run on the Bishop Line, and he remarks that it’s a favourite of his. He comments, “It’s only on heritage lines now, which for most people, that’s a good thing”.
Marie and John excitedly discuss how the old rolling stock has gone on to be used in schools in the region, Kirk Merrington Primary School as a library and The Dales School in Blyth.
John remarks that before his work placement, he’d never been on the Weardale Railway. He knew of it as a Heritage Railway, but he’d never been before.
He adds, “The best thing about Weardale Railway is when they have heritage trains on and when they do the full Bishop Auckland West to Stanhope service, that’s the best, especially when it’s a traditional diesel work unit like the Class 108. That’s an experience, because they’ve got the lovely kind of cushioned seats and you feel every bump on them, it’s cushioned obviously but it’s part of the experience. On a Saturday you can get straight onto a Weardale Train on Bishop Auckland West Platform, and that’s pretty good. But on Wednesdays, which is today, they only go as far as Wolsingham, so that’s a shame.”
He proudly exclaims, “I’ve even cleaned the train that they run on Saturdays. I cleaned it thoroughly, did the seats, windows, and mopped the floor. It was certainly cleaner once I’d finished. It’s getting a new floor soon as well so that’ll be easier to clean once they do it.”
We talk longingly about the Platform One café at Stanhope and their famous ‘Weardale Tatie Cake’ which contains sliced potatoes, bacon and onions. “It is really nice” comments John.
We arrive at Bishop Auckland Station and are greeted by Claire Gibbons, General Manager of Weardale Railway and Tracy Chappell, Lead Job Coach at Hiyed.
We spend a bit of time on the platform summing up John’s achievements.
John comments that this has been one of the best work placements he could have imagined, because it’s an active Heritage Railway which means running trains and it means you get to be around trains.
Claire comments, “John has been great at thinking for himself as well, the Weardale team love the fact that when John’s finished a job, he’ll come and say, I’ve done that, what next? He doesn’t just sit there, he shows that he’s ready and wants to do more. He’s not afraid to ask questions and get clarification, he’s not scared to say that he doesn’t understand and asks me to tell him exactly what I want him to do, and that’s great, because that’s how you learn”. John explains how sometimes when things aren’t explained clearly it can cause confusion, “You wanted me to go to the Trust office, but the sign on the door said Station Master”, Claire adds, “Yes, we all call it the Trust Office and I hadn’t realised that the sign said otherwise, so it’s a reminder to us that we all need to be a little bit clearer sometimes. We do things every day as second nature, but a visitor may need more explanation.”
Tracy explains that Hiyed is a supported employment service and John approached her about a year ago and said, “I want to work with trains, I don’t care if I could even just clean them, I want to work with trains”.
She explains how she approached Claire at Weardale Railway at one of their social events. “Claire’s response was, Yes, let’s do it!”.
Tracy begins to get emotional as she continues to explain, “I was John’s job coach initially, and I said to John, Eventually, John, I’ll leave you”. She recalls how with a heavy heart John responded to her, “Oh, okay, Tracy”. She continues “So, the day came that I had to leave him and he’s done marvellous for the last two weeks on his own”. She explains how she started to pick him up at home and take him all the way to Stanhope from Darlington. Then after a few weeks, once he’d got that little bit of confidence she suggested to John “What about you get the train to Bishop and I’ll pick you up there”. “Oh yes”, he said, “that’ll be a good idea”. So that’s when that started. And now we bring him back from Stanhope to here and he gets the train home. And then he’s done two weeks work on his own without a job coach, which is fabulous.”
She praises Weardale Railway, “All the team up there are really supportive. I can’t wait to see what John does next, I’m so proud of him.”
Claire comments, “It’s just been lovely to see John grow in confidence in the time that he’s been with us at Weardale. To be able to give people an opportunity like this is fantastic and hopefully it’s a stepping stone into working in the rail industry. John first came to Weardale to volunteer on the Railway 200 Inspiration Train while it was at Stanhope Station. So, it’s lovely that this came to fruition because of that.”
John explains that he’s already booked in to volunteer for Weardale Railway following his work placement and is looking forward to the Flying Scotsman event.
Marie reflects on John’s journey. “Spending time with John has been an absolute pleasure. His enthusiasm for the railway industry is infectious, and it is wonderful to see just how confident and capable he has become travelling independently by train. The determination he has shown throughout his placement at Weardale Railway is inspiring and I’ve no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him. Everyone at Northern will be cheering him on as he takes the next steps towards a career in rail.”
