‘Shining star’ Jonathan Iremonger is the newest Metlink train driver for Wellington’s Transdev after graduating as a locomotive engineer on Monday.

Jonathan of Johnsonville has been employed with Metlink for nearly three years in multiple positions, all with the end goal of becoming a train driver.

“I started off as a passenger operator, then I became a train manager, then service coordinator and finally a locomotive engineer,” Jonathan explains.

“It’s not necessary to go through all those steps but I wanted to learn as much as I could and understand the background – it definitely made studying to become a train driver easier.”

Jonathan’s team leaders described him as having “a thirst for knowledge” and says as part of a big intake of trainee drivers he was “the shining star of the group”.

“The best part about being a train driver is that you can never know everything, there is always something new to learn,” Jonathan says.

“My favourite line to drive on is the Johnsonville Line because it is the most technical one. You always have to deal with something different.”

While Jonathan had not always imagined himself having a career in rail his mum was less surprised by his choice of occupation.

“When I became a passenger operator my mum said ‘of course – you loved trains as a kid’.”

Jonathan says he is grateful to everyone at Metlink who helped him get to where he is now.

“I’ve had so much help from all the drivers and team leaders, they were always great when I came along asking lots of questions.”

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