Star of Egham railway station retires after 44 years.

Mohammad, known to many as 'Fred', has worked at Egham station for 44-years. On Monday, July 3, he enjoyed his 65th birthday. And the first day of his retirement.

He came to the UK from Punjab, Pakistan, in 1964 aged 20. He lived briefly in Oxford, then Walsall, before moving to Slough that December.

In 1965 he got his first job, with what was then British Rail, working as a level crossing keeper at the now defunct New Road crossing, between the Thorpe Lea Road and Pooley Green Road level crossings. When that crossing closed in 1966 he was offered the choice of a similar job in Feltham or a platform job at Egham.

"I used to come down to Egham to collect my wages so I knew all the staff here and liked them, so I took the Egham job," he explained.

He has worked the ticket offices at Ashford, Staines, Addlestone, Weybridge and the old Windsor line, but Egham is where he spent most of his time. He has seen many changes, including the office he now works in being built, back in 1985, but his love of the job remained constant.

He said: "The train numbers are more or less the same now, about 12 per hour, just the trains are much newer. They had slam doors back then. Now they have slide doors and air-conditioning. Steam trains had just finished on this line when I started.

"I have enjoyed it all, both working on the platform and being in the ticket office. I enjoyed serving my customers and meeting all the people.

"They became like family to me. I will miss seeing my regular customers each day. I worked through three generations and have watched children grow up. I still see people from 30 years ago."

Testament to Mohammad's popularity, a stash of cards from well-wishers lines his desk, and although customer service has been his priority for four decades. He is now looking forward to enjoying his retirement.

He said: "I'm going to relax and I'm going on a long holiday, back to Pakistan to see my brother.
"I also want to spend more time with my grandchildren."

In his time, Mohammad has seen numerous oddities, but one of the quirkiest stories happened more recently.

He explained: "A couple of months back, a Bulgarian man who spoke no English came to the ticket office having just landed at Gatwick Airport from Canada.

"In broken English he explained he had a number for his brother, and wanted me to ring him so he could come and pick him up. When the brother hadn't turned up 30-minutes later I called back and he asked which station I was at.

"'There's only one station at Egham' I said. Then he explained was at the station in Warrington, Cheshire, about 250-miles away. His brother had obviously got the wrong ticket at Gatwick," he added.

True to his customer-focussed nature, Mohammad organised the man's onward journey, with specific instructions to ensure he changed at Reading and Crewe, to reach his destination.

Mohammad is married, with four children and a dozen grandchildren. His last day was at the ticket office in Virginia Water station on Sunday, August 2.

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