Farah Riaz, Westwood High

Our journey dawns in 1840s British India where private enterprises build Indian railways. 

A century later the crossroads of partition shape a landscape where a child grows up under a new regime. 

His father supervises railway factory work, overseeing a team of ten workers welding and maintaining the boilers on the steam engines the British have left behind.

But the boy's map is torn asunder because his father departs this earthly voyage crossing into the unseen realm. 

The boy now embarks upon an expedition to be the breadwinner and travel towards a new horizon. 

His tracks bring him to Britain; home of train inventors; of pioneers who spearheaded the railway boom and made travel accessible to the masses.  

His explorations lead him to a job with British Rail. It is 1978. 

In the 70s and 80s he walks the tracks under the pall of the ink-black night-sky climbing up lampposts and lighting them by hand - illuminating the trails for the trains.  

For 42 years he works with zeal and diligence advising on routes, selling tickets, and assisting passengers.  

He sees the privatisation of British Rail in 1997, the modernisation of train stations and ticket machines.  

He sees the switching of companies like train tracks interchanging: Centro, London Midland, West Midlands Trains.  

His life is interwoven with the numerous passengers who arrive and depart crisscrossing their tours and travels.  

There's the boy who runs away from home and tries to sleep in a box at the end of the station, there's the elderly lady who always crosses the train tracks instead of rambling down and passing under the bridge to the other side. 

He is always there to help.  

Then there's me: his daughter travelling to and from school and then university, always delighted and reassured to see my father at the station.  

Vivid memories of him taking me to University Station and beyond and infusing me with dreams and ambitions lingers always in my mind as I cross life's path - all my successes, all my achievements rooted in our train rides. 

Chester Road station our continuous constant.  

Numerous more passengers remember him as the kind-hearted soul who worked with passion and dedication always helping those in need.  

So many stories.  So many lives.  So many souls travelling though. 

He was not just a customer service representative.  

He was a beacon of light for all those wandering through life.  

Muhammad Saleem (1954-2020) Sales Representative of Chester Road Station, Birmingham from 30th October 1978 to the 12th March 2020.  

In the end he embarked onto the same carriage as our sports heroes: Marcus Stewart, Rob Burrow, Stephen Darby, and Doddie Weir to battle motor neurone disease.  

We watch the train spiralling towards the skyline with a message of perseverance illuminating the coral-pink horizon.  

His grandson dreams of becoming a train driver. 

I wear the metal ring made from the scraps at the railway factory - a ring inherited over borders and through generations.  

One family's railway legacy commenced by the British in India continues in modern day Britain.