Meet our members: Michael J Nicholls

Long-time RT Health member Michael J. Nicholls has moulded his career around the transport industry. A career railway man, Michael has served the NSW transport industry well for almost 50 years.

He’s a great example of the thousands of workers who invest their care and time to serve the people of NSW.

While his career highlights are many, Michael calls out a letter from a visitor to Sydney during the 2000 Sydney Olympics as his most memorable.

Michael helped both local and international visitors during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with their various transport needs, including disabled access to transport to and from the Games venues.

The hours were long and, while Michael himself never got to see a single Olympic event, he remembers well a letter of appreciation he received some time later.

“I got a really lovely thank you letter from an international visitor – an Australian couple that lived in Europe but came home for the Sydney Games – that that was forwarded to me from the then Premier’s Department, of Bob Carr. The visitor didn’t know how to reach me, so he addressed it to the Premier, Bob Carr, and it was forwarded to me,” says Michael.

The wife of the gentleman who wrote the letter had broken her leg just before the Olympic Ceremony and needed help.

“It’s very nice when something like that happens, that they take the trouble to send a thank you letter.”

A rewarding career in transport Michael has enjoyed a long, rewarding and successful career working across the NSW State Government transport industry. He started straight out of school, aged 16, in 1973 as a shop boy at the Chullora Workshops of the Public Transport Commission, where he worked for a year. Later promotions saw Michael serve as storeman class 3, class 2 and then storeman class 1 at roles across the Rozelle Purchasing and Supply Store and Central Electrical Depot. He then progressed to the position supervising storeman at Eveleigh, Chullora, Sydenham and Enfield.

Still with the NSW State Government (although through a series of name and departmental changes) from 1980 to 2004 with the State Transit Authority, Michael worked as a supervising storeman, station assistant and customer service team leader.

From 2004 to 2012 Michael worked with RailCorp as customer service team leader at the Petersham Transport Training Centre. This role was the prelude to Michael’s current role with Transport for NSW as business support officer at the training centre.

Today Michael’s role in Facilities Support involves managing maintenance for seven of Transport for NSW training facilities, including Petersham, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Waterfall, Auburn, Chullora, Eveleigh and Waterfall.

He says that every day is different and that he appreciates being able to work at different locations across the rail network.

Over his decades of service to transport across Sydney, Michael has held a front row seat to the changes, expansion and development of public transport.

“New trains, new buses, new ferries. All of transport seems to have changed in so many years,” he says.

He’s witnessed not only the huge transition in trains - from the Red Rattlers to the Waratahs, to the driverless trains of Sydney Metro – but also worked through several innovations in customer service – including the introduction of Opal cards.

A self-confessed ‘people person’, Michael is a popular team member who delights in interacting with his colleagues every day.

His commitment isn’t tied to work hours, as he’s a regular volunteer every New Year’s Eve. “I keep putting off retirement because I love the people,” he says. “That’s why I continue to volunteer every New Year’s Eve. It’s great to see people out and about.”

Michael enjoys bringing in the New Year by volunteering his time to provide crowd control around stations, as well as helping to provide travellers with directions and help.

It’s in his nature to help and volunteer and he relishes the chance to help out on the City Circle route, plus Milsons Point and North Sydney.

A love of the simple things

Michael is now settled in Sydney’s western suburbs in the Strathfield area.

As a child Michael loved spending time on a farm, owned by friends of his grandparents, near Orange.

He recalls that he would have liked to have lived there.

He yearned for life on the farm, yet his Sydney-based parents were firm on keeping him at home with them in Sydney.

He says he enjoyed the time away from the business of the city and could easily see himself as a farmer if he’d been raised in the country.

Michael has extended family with a sister living in the UK and a brother in the USA, both married with children. Michael says they all stay in touch, despite being so far away, and use WhatsApp to communicate with each other.

“My brother would come over from the US to visit when he could, and he has shouted me a trip over there to visit them. But that was before COVID-19, so I haven’t seen them now for a bit,” says Michael.

A proud RT Health member

Michael joined RT Health 49 years ago when he first worked on the railways.

“It was called the Railways and Tramways Hospital Fund back then, and if you worked on the railways you were strongly encouraged to join.”

He’s been very happy with his membership – through some major illnesses and treatments, including two separate cancers. Michael says one of the great things about being a rt health member is that he can get help when he doesn’t understand things.

Health insurance can sometimes be complicated, but he finds the staff at RT Health explain anything he doesn’t understand. He’s spoken several times with rt health Key Account Manager, Alison Weatherill, to ask for information or advice.

“Alison is always fantastic to speak to. She’s helped me a lot. I’ve had to use my RT Health insurance a lot, with various cancers, operations and other treatments. I highly recommend RT Health.”