Aneet finds strength during missing boy incident

It’s a nightmare situation for any parent; a routine trip aboard a train and then suddenly you realise your child is missing.

This is exactly how things unfolded for one of our customers earlier this year.

Boarding a Western Suburbs line service at Strathfield, a mother and her 12 year old son were soon separated when the boy went looking for a toilet onboard the train.

When the boy didn’t return, his mum understandably began to panic. Overwhelmed with fear, she contacted the guard through the passenger emergency system.

It was then that Aneet Pala, the Guard on the train, took control and helped the mother stay calm whilst ascertaining vital information so the search could commence.

“It was a pretty normal journey until I received a call on the intercom from a very distressed lady,” said Aneet.

“I convinced the lady to join me in the guard’s compartment so we could look at the CCTV cameras.”

Train Crewing and Support Excellence Awards

The Train Crewing and Support Excellence Awards ceremony was held on Wednesday with 13 people across the directorate recognised.

The awards were divided into three categories – Safety Champion, Operational Excellence and Customer Experience.

Hayden Donoghue, Executive Director, Train Crewing and Support, hosted the event and said selecting winners had never been tougher given the extraordinary quality of nominees.

“We have seen some remarkable achievements in Train Crewing and Support over the course of the year and it must be said that every person nominated was thoroughly deserving of recognition,” said Hayden.

“The winners at this ceremony should be incredibly proud as they all went above and beyond their everyday role to either improve a way of working or provide an incredible level of assistance to others.

“Presenting these awards is a great honour and on the behalf of our organisation, I would like to thank each nominee for their efforts.”

The new Kidd on the block

Late last week at Petersham Training Centre, it became very apparent that one of the new Driver recruits wasn’t suffering too heavily from first day nerves.

Despite his relatively tender 21 years of age, Matthew Kidd looked positively composed and ready to learn, perhaps a direct reflection of the fact his father has worked at Sydney Trains for the past three decades.

Based at Penrith as a Guard, Stephen Kidd has just clocked up 30 years of service and is looking forward to his son joining him on the network in the near future.

“Matthew obviously has an extensive year of training ahead of him, but I’m very proud that he’s reached this point and I’m excited about what the future holds for him,” said Stephen.

“He’s a bright boy so I’m sure he’ll make a great Driver, and as he’s been around trains and railway people all his life, he shouldn’t have too many problems fitting in around here.”

Great Guard Tweets

Here is our November wrap up of compliments posted by customers on social media, thanking guards for making informative and entertaining announcements.

Well done!