EXCLUSIVE Train conductor labelled a hero for making special tickets for children
A Glasgow train ticket examiner has been applauded after going viral for making a handmade special train ticket for a delighted four-year-old boy.
A Glasgow train ticket examiner has been applauded after going viral for making a handmade special train ticket for a delighted four-year-old boy.
Michael Stevens, 30, of Glasgow, revealed to MailOnline he has been making and handing out these wholesome creations for a year now, on a mission to bring joy to Scotlands young passengers.
He writes special train ticket on an odd bit of ticket paper that would otherwise be binned and decorates it with stickers - Thomas The Tank Engine and general train ones for all year round, and seasonal ones at Christmas, Easter and Halloween.
Though he has worked as a ScotRail ticket examiner for four years and started this project a year ago, his efforts have just recently gone viral, after a post on X from a passenger praising him got nearly two million views.
Tagging ScotRail, David Nicol, 42, of the Cathcart area of Glasgow, asked the train company to give Mr Stevens a proper bit of recognition: My wee boy got his own special ticket and couldnt wait to show all his nursery pals.
Ticket examiner Mr Stevens - who does the crafting in advance, at home and in his own time - recalled the moment fondly, telling MailOnline: [The boy] was very proud to hold it and he was showing everyone, he was showing his dad who was there and everyone who was on the train.
Mr Nicols post - showing his four-year-old son James proudly holding his ticket on a Cathcart Circle train on Tuesday - got a response on X from ScotRail, describing the moment as beautiful: More of this across all social media can only be a good thing. Oh, and I hope he got to show everyone in the nursery!
Mr Stevens said giving the handmade tickets to children makes his day better too: When they receive the ticket, they’re dead chuffed, they’re dead happy. When I come back down [the train aisle], they’re showing me and its a nice experience, just seeing a kid smile, laugh and giggle, so proud just to have got the ticket.
Michael Stevens (pictured), 30, of Glasgow, revealed to MailOnline he has been making and handing out these wholesome creations (pictured) for a year now, on a mission to bring joy to Scotlands young passengers
David Nicol, 42, of the Cathcart area of Glasgow, posted on X on Tuesday praising Mr Stevenss kindness, and sharing a picture of his four-year-old son James proudly holding his ticket (pictured)
The father got a response from ScotRail (pictured), describing the moment as beautiful: More of this across all social media can only be a good thing. Oh, and I hope he got to show everyone in the nursery!
ScotRail ticket examiner Mr Stevens told MailOnline he loves to entertain the young passengers on his trains with the tickets: I make quite a lot of special train tickets to hand out to all the wee kids and youngsters who travel.
He started making the wholesome crafts months ago because he noticed a lot of children were really interested by train tickets: Wee kids, sometimes, would ask their parent to hold their ticket or ask for a ticket printed out the machine. Normally, Id just give them a receipt or something.
But with this, he saw an opportunity to make these moments more fun for children - and he started using bits of spare, unused ticket paper that would have otherwise gone in the bin to start the lovely project.
Since then, Mr Stevens has gathered lots of materials to make the tickets the best they can be: Ive got a drawer in the house full of different stickers.
With Easter coming up - one of the festive occasions he makes seasonal tickets for along with Christmas and Halloween - he is currently busy preparing new ones, complete with Easter bunnies, he said, and already has some ready to go.
The ticket examiner hands out a lot of his crafts - to the extent they are now becoming coveted items in nurseries across Scotland, he said: I gave one to a kid today and he was actually just so happy to have one, he was actually saying, "Oh, my friend in nursery just showed me that the other day"!
But he was very shocked when he realised his efforts were going viral: The next day, it was all over social media and I saw and I thought, "Oh, OK! Alrighty!" It just is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
He does it because it puts a smile on kids faces, he explained: It makes their day sometimes, just a small gesture.
ScotRail ticket examiner Mr Stevens told MailOnline he loves to entertain the young passengers on his trains by giving them the tickets he makes in advance at home in his own time (pictured)
With Easter coming up - one of the festive occasions he makes seasonal tickets for along with Christmas and Halloween - he is currently busy preparing new ones, complete with Easter bunnies, he said, and already has some ready to go (pictured)
Mr Stevens has gathered lots of materials to make the tickets the best they can be: Ive got a drawer in the house full of different stickers
Mr Stevens said he likes to put in that extra bit of effort to bring them that happiness: Its the thought... a wee personal touch and the stickers on the cards as well instead of just a sticker, "There you go".
Kids always treasure their crafted ticket, the train worker said: When children receive them, theyre over the moon, theyre happy to receive them. It makes everyone’s day.
Anytime I walk past them again, I always ask them, "Do you still have it?" They show me again when I come past!
And parents are always really touched by it, he added: They’re surprised that I’ve made the effort, to make them, to hand them out.
It helps to keep kids calm and happy on long journeys too, Mr Stevens explained: When kids are on the journey for the full ride, its good to give them that wee ticket, to help them, give them a wee boost or be cheery, just to keep their mind off the long journey.
Mr Stevens said he loves to be able to bring passengers a moment of joy: You dont know what people are going through at that moment of time you meet them.
And it is not just children he tries to make happy, he said: I always talk to everyone on the train, no matter who they are. Its good to have a laugh on the train...
Its trying to break that ice so Im not just going down, just checking tickets, thats it, moving on.
The train worker said he likes to put in that extra bit of effort to bring them that happiness: Its the thought... a wee personal touch and the stickers on the cards as well instead of just a sticker, "There you go"
Kids always treasure their crafted ticket, he said: When children receive them, theyre over the moon, theyre happy to receive them
But Mr Stevens was very shocked when he realised his efforts were going viral (pictured, Mr Nicols X post that went viral): The next day, it was all over social media and I saw and I thought, "Oh, OK! Alrighty!"
I always try to have a wee conversation with people or open up, or talk to people as well, give that wee personal touch as well.
Mr Nicol told Glasgow Live that when they were on the train from where they live in the Cathcart area of Glasgow on Tuesday, Mr Stevens checked his ticket as normal before jokingly asking to see his sons.
It was at that point the ticket examiner produced the premade special train ticket, complete with train and Thomas The Tank Engine stickers, from his bag - to four-year-old Jamess delight.
The father said: James was really pleased and held onto it all the way into town and showed all his friends at nursery.
In fact, they had put it away safely for him to take home as he was so taken with it.
Mr Stevens recalled: He was happy to receive the ticket, he was very happy and chuffed, over the moon.
Mr Nicols post has more than 13,000 likes and nearly two million views. ScotRail responded to it with their own post, saying: I think its beautiful that a post like this, such a small gesture between two people, can gain over a million views with plenty of likes and comments too.
More of this across all social media can only be a good thing. Oh, and I hope he got to show everyone in the nursery!
In the comments, Mr Nicol replied (pictured) to confirm James did indeed proudly show all his nursery friends the handmade ticket: He was still hanging onto it when I picked him up!
Users rushed to the comments section of Mr Nicols original post (pictured) to express their delight at the sweet interaction
In the comments, Mr Nicol replied to confirm James did indeed proudly show all his nursery friends the handmade ticket: He was still hanging onto it when I picked him up! Its a little overwhelming all the views from all over the world.
And another user, determined to know more about the kind Mr Stevens, received a reply from ScotRail saying: Rest assured, Michael is very much aware his lovely gesture has been seen by many, many people.
His manager is also aware and Im sure hes getting a well-deserved pat on the back.
Users rushed to the comments section of Mr Nicols original post to express their delight at the sweet interaction. One said: This is so thoughtful, fair play to Michael.
Another added: This is just the cutest! ScotRail, well done! And I hope he got to show all his pals.
Someone else exclaimed: Delightful to see this thoughtfulness for the young passengers!
One more was very impressed by Mr Stevenss customer service: That wee boy will always remember this. Well done Michael, youre clearly a star.
Another agreed that this would be a long-lasting memory for the young passenger: How kind. Seconds to do, smiles forever.
ScotRail customer operations director Phil Champbell said: We are committed to providing customers across Scotland with the best possible experience when they travel on ScotRail services, and this is the perfect example of the role our hardworking staff play in making that happen.
Michael is a fantastic ambassador for ScotRail, and I am delighted to see the positive impact he had on this young traveller’s day.