A TRAIN driver has spoken about some of the problems on the infamous railway Ale Trail.

Jason Halstead, who drives trains between Marsden, Huddersfield and Leeds, made his comments after appearing on BBC2’s The Railway – Keeping Britain On Track.

“I saw this one lad fall face forward on to the line,” says Jason, whose line boasts the Ale Trail.

“He was crawling across while a train was pulling in.

“He was in an absolute state; covered in snot and vomit.

“He said: ‘I need to get to Manchester.’

“I said: ‘You need a bath.’”

The Ale Trail – a tour of track-side pubs between Leeds and Manchester – has been a mixed blessing not only for Colne Valley villagers, but for rail workers.

And Jason, of Linthwaite, has to contend with abusive language, reckless passengers and bodily fluids when the Ale Trail season gets into full swing.

The stoic and plain-speaking driver earned himself plenty of praise – and a marriage proposal – on Twitter while the BBC film was screened on Tuesday night.

Jason, who works for Northern Rail, says: “I remember when it was just real ale fans. You barely noticed them. Now it’s stag dos and hen dos.

“It’s a good thing in principle, bringing people and money to Colne Valley, but it’s got a bit beyond control. There are limited resources, especially when it’s the football season.

“Every week I have people urinating on my cab door and urinating off the platforms.”

The dad-of-two says he feels sorry for his fellow Colne Valley residents.

Jason, who has been driving trains for 11 years, says: “I don’t mind drunk people – it’s the nasty drunks that spoil it for everyone.

“It’s the poor people going from A to B – who’ve used the service for years – that are having their journeys spoilt by drunken louts.”

But apart from the salary – full-time train drivers earn over £40,000 a year – there’s plenty Jason likes about his job.

He says: “I enjoy the job and the people I work with. The people that travel are generally a nice bunch. They just want to get from A to B and that’s what we aim to do.”

And Jason disputes there’s a hierarchy between drivers of the national high-speed trains and those at the controls of the humble, local services.

He says: “They think the people who drive the Virgin and the East Coast trains are the elite, but I’d stand toe-to-toe with them”!