55 Years on Track: Recipient of National Honour Hopes for Full Revival of Rail Service in Jamaica

For five and half decades Norman Jones has given distinguished service to the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC).

Mr. Jones, who hails from Retrieve in St. James, lived in proximity to the Cambridge Railway Station and recalled that as a schoolboy he often observed the station brimming with people and activity.

From announcements echoing through the speakers, reunions and goodbyes between loved ones, loading and unloading of luggage, vendors selling snacks and newspapers to whistles blowing signalling departures, he enjoyed all the sights and sounds.

The 76-year-old tells JIS News that his aspirations of working in the railway sector began in his teenage years.

“We watched the station personnel, so in our own minds, the railway would be a very good place to seek employment,” he says.

Mr. Jones applied for the post of trainee station assistant and began training in 1969.

The training required him to lodge in Kingston for three months, where he focused on the theory aspect before moving on to practical training at Greenvale Railway Station in Manchester.

“I learnt train movements, how a station should be managed, proper safety and even conduct because we have to face the public,” he recounts.

Thereafter, he was placed at Port Antonio Railway Station in Portland where he was the clerk in charge of clerical operations.

“I was promoted eventually to station master in 1980, and I was transferred to Cambridge. In those days, a station master’s job was very important. Being a station master, you have to be sober because you are dealing with the movement of trains and one error could put the company into problems,” he points out, adding that he was responsible for the staff and the entire operation of the station.

He held that senior position for more than 10 years, some of which were spent at the Greenvale and the May Pen and Porus rail stations in Clarendon.

Mr. Jones shares with JIS News that during his tenure he had no rail accidents or near misses.

“However, on occasion, unruly persons in the train station did idle things. When the train was ready to go, they practised hopping the train. I’ve seen occasions where people hopped off the train and lost their lives or were badly wounded. On one occasion, I had to go to court as a witness on the railway’s behalf,” he recalls.

While he worked as station master, Mr. Jones tied the knot with his wife of more than 40 years.

“This job enabled me to maintain my family,” he says, sharing that he is a proud father to three children, two of whom are attorneys and the third, a businessman.

His last appointment was to the post of train controller, which he held until his retirement at age 60.

That role required him to use radio and telephone systems to coordinate trains and ensure that they are on the correct path and on time.

He was authorised to continue working in the same post at the Corporation’s head office in Kingston after he retired.

“I continued with the service because they were short-staffed. The railway was in a position where it was just a small number of persons. We were not fully operational – just the bauxite trains,” he told JIS News.

Mr. Jones will be conferred with the Badge of Honour for Long and Faithful Service on National Heroes Day, October 21.

Speaking of his more than half century on the railway, Mr. Jones says “it was very rewarding”.

“It was surprising but I am grateful,” he tells JIS News, sharing that a co-worker called him on Independence Day to inform him that his name was on the National Honours and Awards list published in the newspaper.

“I believe that Jamaica can have a very active train system. We are persons who were trained to be careful, to be on the alert, so as it is now, the train is the safest mode of transportation in Jamaica,” Mr. Jones said.

He not only envisions a revival of Jamaica’s railway system but is doing his part by sharing the knowledge and experience he has garnered.

“Right now, I am doing something on a contractual basis. We are training people to take over from us. Our time has come, so we will be going, and we want to see the railway keep moving. I am hoping to see the railway come back to its former days,” Mr. Jones says.