A newly qualified conductor was pleasantly surprised when she realised the first driver she would be working with was her dad.
Ella Phillips, 18, and her father Daniel, 50, took charge of the 6.04am Northern service which ran from Skipton to Bradford Forster Square on Wednesday, 11 June.
Donna Phillips, who works for Northern as a station supervisor, greeted her daughter and husband on the platform in Bradford, after travelling on the train as a passenger from Shipley.
Ella, who lives in Baildon, decided to become a conductor after leaving college and completed three months of training with Northern.
When she showed her dad the schedule for her first shift, they realised he would be driving the first three services.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “We thought we might be put together on a random day, but not on my first shift.
“It was a bit nerve wracking thinking that if I mess up my dad will be watching. But I also knew that if anything went wrong and I needed help, he would be there. He’s a really good person to work with.”
She added: “I love my job. I like that it keeps you on your toes and every day is slightly different. I’m not stuck in the same place, doing the same thing, every day.
“I’m the youngest at the depot in Skipton but we all have a laugh and everyone makes me feel comfortable.”
Daniel, who has been a train driver for two years, said: “I was happy that it was me driving, to make her feel a bit more comfortable on her first time out. As a parent, that’s what you want.
“I was checking the cameras to see if she was doing everything right and I was really impressed with how she owned it.
“To see her bossing it made me really proud. She’s doing a great job.”
Donna said: “I was definitely more nervous than Ella, hoping everything went all right for her on her first shift, but once I was on board I was fine.
“She’s quite young to have a big responsibility like this, but she’s obviously taken all her training on board and knew exactly what she was doing.
“It was nice to be a part of it and will be a nice memory for years to come.”
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.