Jason scoops Train Driver of Year award

A Felsham train driver who quickly reacted to a medical situation involving one of his passengers has been named his industry’s best.

Jason Brooks, 48, was given the Train Driver of the Year accolade at the RailStaff Awards- the country’s national awards ceremony for those who work on the railway.

In February this year, the Greater Anglia driver was called into action after a passenger on his Liverpool Street to King’s Lynn service collapsed as the train pulled into Ely station.

The father-of-four tried to revive the man, including performing CPR and using a defibrillator, but he had died by the time an ambulance had arrived.

On receiving the award, Mr Brooks, who has been a driver for 14 years, said: “At the end of the day it was a team effort. I might have been the person pressing down on his chest but there were other people there doing equally as important jobs,

“Whether it be clearing the carriage or just making phone calls. The outcome wasn’t what we all wanted and that’s what I find difficult.”

The platform staff on duty that night were relatively inexperienced and on nominating him for the award describing him as an ‘ultimate professional’ for remaining calm, collected and being a supportive force to them.