After a long time away from one of his favourite pastimes, Gellibrand client Neil Mansfield was thrilled to recently take a train trip.
When I visited Neil to talk out about his landmark recent train trip, he was by coincidence watching a video about Melbourne’s new X’Trapolis 2.0 trains. The clip showed them being tested on suburban lines before the plan to have them in service by early 2026. Neil has loved trains for a long time and he wanted to find out all about the new models soon to grace our tracks.
“When I was a little boy, I had train sets,” he told me, adding that he enjoyed videos about trains from all around the world, but Australian trains were his favourite. He also told me that due to physical and mental health issues, he hadn’t felt able to ride a train for the past three years.
“Last time I went with my cousin and his wife, I could walk. Also, I have had trouble with my hormones and that has made me struggle with my confidence. It’s taken a while for me to get going again.”
Neil told Gellibrand team members of his hope to ride a train again and they quickly began to make plans for a trip to Ballarat.
“Gellibrand did a great job,” Neil told me enthusiastically. “They pulled their thumbs out and got going!”
Neil was thrilled to get on board a train to Ballarat and enjoyed every minute of his trip there and back. He also loved getting out and about in the regional city.
“We went to the park and I had chips and a coffee,” he said.
Neil said his trip to Ballarat was just the start of future train journeys. He hopes his next one will be to Altona – he’d like to spend some time near the beach – and he also wants to see the new metropolitan stations when they’re in action.
“They’re also doing a new train from Sunshine to the airport. They’ve been talking about that since I was a kid!” he said, adding, “I’ll be happy to go out with Margaret (Gellibrand’s Customer Wellbeing Manager) and other people because they have helped me to go out more and be confident.”
Neil’s sister Pam was also excited that Neil had been able to get on board a train again, saying to Gellibrand, “Thank you so much for taking Neil out today. He can’t stop talking about what a great time he had. The care Gellibrand has for Neil is exemplary. Bless you all.”
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