60 SECONDS WITH DION NEWMAN

Every Month on Exchange Extra, we take sixty seconds out to get to know our team. Follow us on our journey to connect all members of our network.

This month we introduce you to train service controller, Dion Newman!

Name: Dion Newman

Job title: Train Service Controller North London Lines.

Location: Palestra.

Hi Dion! Please sum up your role in one sentence My role is to ensure we operate a safe and reliable train service to our passengers.

Tell us about your journey to ARL… I started my railway career in 2004, working for Chiltern Railways in Control. I have covered all roles within Control, from service information, fleet control and duty control manager. I then moved to the London North Western as a duty operations manager before working at North Pole TMD for Hitachi Rail. I then decided I missed the operational side of the railway and applied for my role with ARL.

What do you look forward to most working at ARL? I look forward to meeting all the teams and helping our passengers complete their journeys safely and on time every day. 

In your career so far, what are you most proud of? I would have to say getting my first job on the railway when I was 19 and gradually climbing up the Control ladder to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I have done 19 years of service now, which is still some way off his 63 years and counting still!

Tell us about your most memorable railway trip… This was last year, me and a friend travelled from Memphis to New Orleans on the City of New Orleans train. An 11-hour train journey filled with good food, drink and lots of laughs.

If you could book a ticket to any destination, where would you go? I would love to have a trip on The Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff, then carry on across Canada from Jasper to Toronto. I have seen plenty of photos from this route but I would love to see it all first hand.

ARL is committed to the internal progression, growth and development of colleagues and over the past year, more than one third of vacancies were filled internally.