15 Aug 2024

They say the railway is a family and that’s certainly the case up in Rhymney where a father and his daughter are both working, having passed out 17 years apart.

Incredibly when Tia Rees was passed out as competent this month, it was by Driver Manager Haydn Cridland, the same man who helped her dad Dean pass his out on his rules in 2007.

“I knew Tia was on the programme and I met her early doors into her nine months of training,” said Hadyn, who joined the railway in 1985.

“It was a nice quirk that she ended up in Rhymney as not a lot of trainees start up here because we’re a small depot.

“We work with them closely to build up the relationship over the training and it’s very much about helping them achieve the best they can rather than finding fault.

“She really did have to earn it and she’s got masses of ability so I think she’ll go really far.”

Former police officer Tia, 25, has now completed her first solo drive and is competent on Class 150s and 231s.

“It’s been really exciting, though the training was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Tia.

“But I’ve got a really good manager!

“I was ringing my dad constantly asking him questions and I’m really looking forward to being a driver here.”

After qualifying in 2007, former aircraft engineer Dean spent 10 years driving before becoming an instructor and more recently Driver Manager.

He said: “The process has changed quite a bit since I passed out. You spent 12 weeks in the classroom then got assigned to a driver manager to go over the rules and I got Haydn. I ended up spending 8 hours in a room with him answering 512 questions!

“When Tia was a police officer her mother was worried sick so I said to try train driving.

“Since then our house has been nothing but train talk for nine months!”

Because of the family connection, Haydn is Tia’s manager while Dean manages Haydn’s step-son Craig, also a driver. Haydn’s son Charlie is a mainline driver, while his father and grandfather also worked on the railway, going back to 1915.

“It’s nice to see family on the railway and it’s always been that sort of industry,” added Haydn, who over the years has passed out between 30 and 40 drivers.

“There’s a good work life balance and it’s become a career that offers you a good standard of living, and rightly so.”