As V/Line celebrated 160 years of rail in Geelong this week, one employee had a big milestone of their own.
David Price started work at age 16 for Victorian Railways, now V/Line, and last month notched up 50 years of service.
“We would heat foot warmers, which were made of steel, so people could keep warm while travelling to Melbourne on the red rattler trains,” he said.
He later worked as a signalman in Geelong before starting as a booking clerk at North Geelong station in 1990, where he has worked since.
“I just like communicating with people and helping people out,” he said.
“I meet a lot of customers as kids and watch them grow into adults.”
David said the biggest change to the railways during his time was the technology.
“There were no mobile phones or electronic tickets, it was cardboard tickets and a lot of paperwork,” he said.
An avid Cats supporter and cyclist in his spare time, David brushed off talk of retirement.
“I love my job so when I stop enjoying it, I’ll retire,” he said.
V/Line CEO James Pinder joined staff at North Geelong station last month to mark the milestone.
“David is a very popular member of the V/Line team and with our customers at North Geelong, many of who he knows by name,” he said,
On 25 June 1857, the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company opened the railway Geelong to a temporary terminus called Greenwich at Newport, where passengers had to transfer to a steamer for connection to Melbourne.
