New TV Show Reveals East Coast Rail Man’s Journey To A Brighter Future
Against all odds – the fascinating story of how guard Dan Webster rose through the ranks to become a star of the small screen
When Dan Webster thinks about homeless people, he knows what they’re going through – he has walked in their shoes. He knows what it’s like just trying to survive on the margins of life.
In his very short lifetime, this likeable young man has accomplished many things against all odds — overcoming a travelling childhood, and rising out of homelessness and verbal abuse to become a train guard on one of Britain’s flagship rail routes, the East Coast line between London, Yorkshire and Scotland.
Yet his story is much more than one of accumulating stature and overcoming adversity, and he never forgets his past.
Now a qualified Train Guard, Dan (25) was born in Aberdeen and grew up in Sheffield, where he attended the city’s Dinnington Comprehensive School. Dan now lives in Leeds, and has become a star of the small screen after featuring in the new Sky 1 HD 10 part TV documentary series All Aboard: East Coast Trains.
Dan arrived in York several years ago with no job and nowhere to live, and although he lacked a degree, the pedigree and social connections to land a white-collar job, he continued to apply for multiple roles across several months – and finally landed a job as a cleaner on East Coast trains.
Dan’s meteoric rise from couch surfer to Train Guard was a long time coming but no less deserved.
Wanting to make something of himself, Dan decided to try his luck in York and borrowed £70 from his mum – half of which went on a £35 open return train ticket from Mansfield to York.
Arriving in York with only the remaining £35 in his pocket, Dan, otherwise had just the clothes on his back and an invitation to sleep on a friend’s floor while he searched for that elusive prize – a job.
The following weeks and months saw Dan going from place to place in search of a good night’s sleep, but with it came with a price, as those who at first kindly put him up for the night often verbally abused him over his predicament.
Alone and with nowhere to go, Dan had to accept the put-downs – but it wasn’t until a colleague gave him a telephone number for a landlord that Dan’s luck began to change for the better.
Within minutes of that ‘phone call, Dan was on the move once again thanks to the landlord’s kindness. He was picked up and moved into small but safe surroundings in York.
That change in fortune was only the beginning, as Dan secured temporary employment at York station with contractor Initial as a Station Cleaner. After several short stints across a variety of roles, Dan applied for a position with East Coast that saw him undertake duties as an On-Board Customer Service Assistant, a Station Customer Service Assistant in York and ultimately, to begin training as a Train Guard based in Leeds.
Overcoming multiple obstacles placed in front of him, Dan’s story is one of true grit and determination.
Dan clung to his goal of independence through sheer hard work, and at the end of his training programme, Sky 1 HD viewers saw the happy ending as Dan was selected for a permanent job as an East Coast Train Guard.
“Staying motivated isn’t a challenge for me,” he says today. “When I think about all I want to accomplish, despite all my successes, I haven’t even made a dent in what’s possible.”
“East Coast has always looked after me and because of that it’s been the longest I’ve ever been in a job and one that I’ve progressed in too.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunities East Coast have given me. I eventually want to become a train driver, but I understand you need to walk before you can run.
“For me, it’s a great feeling and sense of achievement to get to where I have done today, but there is a lot more for me to achieve and I won’t get there without hard work and determination.
“I’m pleased East Coast have looked at the bigger picture and seen the potential in me and not labelled me due to my circumstances. I’ve had to work hard to get here but I also appreciate the opportunity and responsibility East Coast has given me. This job has given me a purpose in life and the opportunity to prove myself which is a great feeling.
“I’ve grown up a lot since I was homeless, through the experience of different roles and responsibilities including life experience which has provided me with the building blocks to climb a career ladder. The main thing is that I’ve been given the responsibility to do a job, and to prove to those people who gave me the chance that they were right.
“The Sky 1 HD documentary is a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase to viewers what it takes to not only be part of a successful company, but also to succeed in the rail industry. Some people don’t always see the bigger picture, and this show gives an insight in to what goes on behind the scenes.
“If you had asked me what I wanted to do when I was younger I wouldn’t have wanted to work on the railway, I wanted to be a fire fighter. These days I think of driving trains as cool because like fire-fighting, both require a high level of concentration and taking approximately 500 people safely to their destination also requires a high level of responsibility.
“My family are incredibly proud of me. They have seen how far I have come and what I’ve achieved in such a short space of time. Knowing how proud they are means so much: there’s no better feeling than knowing that the ones who mean the most to you are proud of you, and it justifies some of the hard decisions I’ve had to make in life.
“I’ve been very focused and determined to work for a company like East Coast, and what makes East Coast such a great place to work is the people you work with – it’s these people you see day in day out that are part of such a close-knit community that make such a difference. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s like having an extended family.
“East Coast have always been good to me; I feel wanted. If you look after people then you get the best out of them and East Coast is a great company to work for.
“If I had any advice for anyone wanting to get ahead in life then it would be if you at first don’t succeed, try and try again, never give up. No matter how low you find yourself in life, you reap what you sow, you only ever get out of life what you put in.
“I have known so many people who have said they can’t find employment, but often they have never done anything about it. I’ve always put myself in a scenario to get what I want in life. I’ve had to remain positive to succeed otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today.
“Life doesn’t have to be about been rich and famous, for me it’s about being happy and achieving my life aspirations. Thanks to East Coast, I can safely say I’m achieving both.”
Now, Dan is more acutely aware that time is “the ultimate luxury.” He says. “At a certain point there are more yesterdays than tomorrows. So, I plan on spending all my tomorrows very carefully, and appreciating every one of them.”
“I owe so much to my parents, Mark and Diane, including the moment that got me pointed in the right direction,” he says: “I was a kid, watching Skateboarding on the TV, and one of the commentators said that some of the best skaters in the world earn a good living. I whistled and said, under my breath, ‘Man, earning a good living doing something you love!’ And my mother, who was in the next room, said, ‘Son, if you want to, one day you could do something similar.’ With that one sentence, she convinced me that in spite of where I came from, I could attain whatever goals I set for myself. That one day I, too, could be great at something if I put my mind to it.”
About the future, Dan believes the best is yet to come. “Hopefully, my legacy and what I’ll be remembered for has not happened yet,” he says. “I don’t want to sit on my laurels. There’s still too much to achieve.”
All Aboard: East Coast Trains is an access-all-areas, fly-on-the-wall documentary series that looks at some of the people behind the scenes at the publicly-owned train operator.
Dan starred in the second episode, entitled We are Family, which broadcast on Sky 1 HD at 20.00 on Tuesday 19 November.
In the episode, viewers saw Daniel undertake his final test on the job assessment to become a qualified train guard. The delighted Daniel passed with flying colours, so took on a train of his own from Leeds to London.
I have always been interested in socioeconomics and poverty, and this book from Matthew Small really caught my eye. When my preview copy arrived I read it very quickly. It is a good book. It is well researched and asks important questions. The comparison between poverty in India and poverty in the UK is an interesting one. The truth is there is really no comparison, in India you have slums, in the UK you have a welfare system. The parallels are interesting. You have the Big Issue seller who doesn’t think he is poor because he has what he needs, people who work hard but life beats them down. Those in India with no safety net. Many of the stories in this book haunted me. Especially the one about a a little girl and a baby boy both sleeping on the streets at night. They were alone with no adult, the little girl asleep, using a plastic bag full of rubbish as a pillow and the baby boy, presumably her brother, wearing nothing but a ripped T shirt, bare bottom on the concrete. The baby was gurgling and laughing, playing with a piece of paper on the street, sticking it in his mouth the way babies do. Smalls says he is haunted by this and it is the worst thing he has ever seen but nothing is done. I often think of the child and infant. I have even tried to find them via the internet. I can just hope that someone took pity on them and lifted them from their plight. We live in such a sad world and I can’t help but think more can be done It made me so proud of my own country and our welfare and NHS. You cannot say we do not help the poor. Those who are homeless long term tend to have mental health issues or drug or alcohol problems. Because of this I feel that is where we should turn our efforts in the UK: to those with mental health problems or addiction. This book is a good book but also a haunting one. More importantly, if anyone could let me know what happened to those poor children I would be eternal grateful.
