Chiltern Railways employee retires after 50 years on the railway

Chiltern Railways Customer Service Inspector Neville Royce celebrated five decades working on the railway last week with a special presentation by colleagues at Marylebone station and retired officially on the 10th August, 50 years to the day that he started working on the railway.

Mr Royce joined the railway as a booking clerk in Luton on 10 August 1970 before moving to the booking office in Oxford six years later, where he met his future wife Glynis – they have now been married for 39 years. In 1980, Mr Royce began work as a ticket inspector in Aylesbury and remained there until his retirement.

Colleagues at Chiltern Railways surprised Mr Royce with a special socially-distanced presentation ceremony at Marylebone Station last Thursday (6 August), where speeches were made over the announcement system and a guard of honour was performed by staff. Chiltern Railways Interim Managing Director, Mary Hewitt, presented Mr Royce with a certificate, plaque, and class 68 train model in Chiltern livery.

Mr Royce credits his love of the railway to the previous generations of his family who all worked in the industry, “Five generations of Royce’s have now worked on the railway – it’s in my genes. The sight of a train rushing through a station still gives me a buzz and the sound of a steam engine fighting its way up Hatton Bank or accelerating out of Princes Risborough will always send a shiver down my spine!”

Mr Royce plans to use his retirement to spend more time with his family, in particular his wife, and visiting his young grandson in Yorkshire. But says he’ll miss working on the railway, “I have learnt that you learn something new every day and if you think you know everything about the railway, you don’t. While I won’t miss the early mornings, I will miss the comradery and being able to tell people with pride that I work on the railway”