– Everyone is welcome at Vy

From Estate Agent to Conductor

Seven years ago, Ali decided to change his career path. It all happened quite suddenly after receiving a tip from his sister, who also works for the railways. Today, the real estate industry is but a distant memory.

– I ended up at Vy by pure coincidence. But now I cannot imagine a better job.

After completing his estate agent training and following a long period of job hunting within a challenging market, Ali was ready for new challenges. He took his sister’s advice and it wasn’t long before he settled into the role of conductor.

He now juggles life as a husband and dad with shift work at Vy. A life that suits him perfectly.

– The best thing about the job is that there is variation in the working day. No two days are the same. And I get to meet new people every single day. In that sense, there are some common denominators between life as an estate agent and life as a conductor.

Unique diversity

On the platform in Halden, holidaymakers are being guided onto the train for Gothenburg. Wearing a freshly ironed shirt and smart trousers, Ali smiles kindly as he welcomes the passengers.

– “You cannot be afraid to give of yourself in a job like this. For me, it's important to be cheerful, informative and accommodating,” says Ali, before walking between the train carriages to check tickets and make sure that everything is as it should be.

"Are you heading off on your holidays? How wonderful! And you’re travelling to Gothenburg? It’s such a beautiful city.”

Small talk comes easily as the train passes lakes full of leisure boats and bathing rafts as it heads towards Sweden.

– “I’ve given some thought to what it is that makes me enjoy working at VY so much and I think diversity plays a big part. I enjoy working in a company where there are so many people from different backgrounds,” Ali says excitedly, before continuing:

– “At Vy, there are people from various generations working, some born as late as the 2000s, while others were born in the 1960s. Many of us also have different cultural and religious backgrounds, different sexual orientations, different professional backgrounds and different ways of living life. Everyone is welcome here.”

Paid training

Seven years ago, when Ali applied for a vacant trainee conductor role, he was given paid internal training to become a conductor. The theory element took place at the Skills Centre in Drammen. The other part took place together with supervisors on trains.

Today, Ali trains aspiring conductors in the profession he enjoys so much.

– “As a conductor, you have a number of duties. Most importantly, you will be responsible for safety on board the train. That means you need to know a lot about the trains you work on,” he explains.

– “We make sure that embarking and disembarking is safe, we manage the safety on the train and the safety of passengers and we provide information in the event of delays or adverse events and ensure that the safety of the train driver is maintained.”

Understanding and empathy for the customer

Although life as a conductor is largely the same as today – with a working day that runs smoothly and involves pleasant passengers on board, there can sometimes be unforeseen situations that require a little extra.

Ali is unlikely to forget the freezing winter day earlier this year. The train stopped midway between two stations in rural Sweden when the temperature was 20 degrees below freezing. There was something wrong with the power supply.

– “It took nine hours before we could get the train up and running again. I can assure you that those were nine long, ice-cold hours for passengers and employees alike. I tried my hardest to make the best of the situation.

Ali brought all of the passengers into a single carriage. This allowed him to share information with them all much more quickly. It was also a good idea to stay together in order to keep warm. He brought warm throws, drinking water and emergency foil blankets for the passengers. Ali was determined to keep everyone’s spirits up despite the tricky situation.

– “People were freezing and started to become quite impatient. Something that is natural in such a situation. I’m keen to make sure that I’m understanding of the passengers when challenging events occur. Incredibly, there were no angry passengers that day and we made it in the end. We always do.”