Star engineer keeps trains on track

Bernard Jackson with his award

A railway engineer from Failsworth has won an award for outstanding customer service from the UK’s largest rail operator.

Bernard Jackson, who is based at Northern Rail’s Newton Heath depot, was awarded the Rising Star accolade, part of the annual Northern Stars scheme.

The incident that won the judges over involved Bernard working one evening when it became clear that routine maintenance of Northern’s fleet was going to be seriously hampered because several units more than usual needed to be assessed.

Faced with the likelihood that Northern wouldn’t have enough trains to run its services next day, Bernard sprang into action.

He got into a van and drove to four different locations, travelling 200 miles around the country and working through the night to ensure the units were ready next morning.

Ian Bevan, managing director of Northern Rail, said: “Thanks to Bernard, no trains were cancelled the next day and our customers got to where they needed to be.

“So often our engineers go unnoticed for the great job they do behind the scenes so we are delighted to be able to recognise Bernard, and his team, and thank them for all they do for us.”

Bernard beat off competition from 35 other nominees.

He said: “I am really honoured to have been nominated and to win this award. I just thought about what needed to be done to make sure our customers were not standing at platforms waiting for trains that wouldn’t be coming.”