Driver retires after 64 years on the railway

A train driver has retired after 64 years of service, which spanned the end of steam through to electric trains.

Tony Robinson, 79, joined the railway in 1962 aged 15, and finished his career with Greater Anglia, which serves passengers across the East of England and was nationalised last year.

He began as an engine cleaner at Stratford station in London before ending up as an experienced driver at the Bishop's Stortford depot in Hertfordshire.

He said he had had a "very eventful career on the railway" and "would do it all again".

He described working for the railway as "a big family, and we've always looked after each other".

Only one year after joining the railway, the Stratford depot became the first to stop using steam locomotives and they all disappeared within a month.

He has driven 23 different types of diesel locomotives and electric trains during his career.

Robinson drove passenger trains to London King's Cross as well as across most of East Anglia after being transferred to the Cambridge depot.

He then transferred back to Bishop's Stortford in 1973, where he remained until his retirement.

In the intervening years, he drove not on just scheduled services, but special journeys, including a school trip to Watford.

He was also involved in the operation of special battery-powered locomotives as part of the electrification programme that saw the electrification of the line to Stansted Airport in the early 1990s.

Louise Paton, area traincrew manager at Bishop's Stortford, said: "For 64 years, Tony hasn't just worked on the railway, but has been part of its history.

"Generations of colleagues have come and gone, and the railway has changed beyond recognition, yet his commitment, professionalism, and dedication have remained constant throughout."

Robinson said: "What kept me here for so long was the people: they're all quite similarly-minded on the railway – you have to have some intelligence, be able to get up in the middle of the night, work, and cope with it."

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