Behind the dings and low hum of trams clicking and scraping alongside the rails of Melbourne’s streets is without doubt one of the metropolis’s coolest drivers, sharing her journey across the bustling metropolis along with her devoted online followers.
It’s solely been three years since Wing first sat behind the wheel of the famend Melbourne mode of transportation, however turning into a Yarra Trams driver has at all times been a part of her plan.
Working as a flight attendant for 5 years, Wing was compelled to rethink her profession path in any case flights have been grounded throughout the pandemic.
“When my cabin crew career was ended unexpectedly, I wasn’t thinking about returning,” she advised NewsWire.
It was then she determined to take the leap as a tram driver.
“When I was a cabin crew (member), I missed out on a lot of things in life,” she defined.
“I remember I went through some of my old stuff, and I found a book where I wrote down like 50 things that I wanted to do in this lifetime.
“Tram driving was one of them.”
It took her two rounds and two years of purposes earlier than she was given the inexperienced mild to turn out to be a tram driver, instantly being thrown into coaching.
“It’s a highly competitive job,” she stated.
All the whereas, she was posting her tram driving journey on a devoted Instagram account – Wing-A-Ding-Ding.
Life as a tram driver might be fairly lonely at instances, she stated, inspiring her to create an account the place she might join along with her passengers.
“Some of my earliest videos (are) just me basically waving into the camera and just saying hello and good morning,” she stated.
“In a way, it makes me feel like I’m saying hello to someone, and someone was there with me.”
As time handed, Wing began filming humorous incidents on the tram and day by day video logs (vlogs), which included her exhibiting off her lunch and route for the day, which she was wanting to share along with her followers.
“I can only show so much of how things work (driving the trams), just for safety reasons,” she stated.
Other video concepts began showing in her head, comparable to exhibiting the “importance of pressing the bell before your stop”.
“I just want to be as creative as possible,” Wing stated.
“There’s no box that I’m gonna box myself into.”
Then issues began to snowball, and her follower depend shortly started climbing.
Sitting simply shy of 13,000 followers, Wing’s Instagram posts are affected by selfies inside and out of doors the tram and providing morsels of recommendation for travellers.
The ‘tramfluencer’ additionally filmed herself jazzing up the tram with Christmas tinsel and Halloween decorations.
Other movies supply followers a glimpse into the lifetime of a tram driver.
“The thought process is fun, something that makes people laugh, something that can sort of like show people things that they don’t know,” Wing stated.
“I’m just this person who is a tram driver that’s also sharing my day with friends.”
As her follower depend grew, so did the interactions along with her followers in actual life.
“Just today, I had a couple of people hopping on my tram and they recognised me,” she laughed.
“I went to a coffee shop (and) the barista recognised me. Even police!”
It’s not simply on a regular basis Melburnians who watch her content material – even her colleagues find out about her viral account, which caught her unexpectedly.
“I was at the head office and there will be just people working come up to me and tell me how much they enjoy my social media,” Wing stated.
“I’d be like, ‘Oh wow you’re watching it too, so thank you’.”
Despite her rising recognition online, Wing does her greatest to remain grounded.
“It’s a nice feeling, (but) having a large number of followers was never the goal,” she stated.
“What I (am) truly, truly grateful for is for the people that always comment. They always give me encouragement, they always just show how much they appreciate the content that I put up.”
At the tip of the day, whereas Wing has turn out to be one of many most recognisable faces of Yarra Trams, her greatest ardour is the job itself.
“Tram driving feels right to me,” she stated.
“I’m a terrific driver. I take pride in being on time – most of the time – (and) avoiding accidents.
“(Being a tram driver) just suits me, it suits my personality.”
It’s no simple feat being a tram driver, although it doesn’t cease Wing’s followers asking her for recommendation to allow them to sit behind the tram’s management panel similar to her.
“It’s fast-paced, but at the same time, it’s a very interesting job,” she stated.
The wage is a welcomed bonus, too, she stated.
“Personally, I think it’s a very well-paid job,” she stated.
According to Your Career, the common tram driver earns about $2500 every week, or $131,000 a 12 months.
However, earlier than pocketing the money, profitable candidates must bear six-to-10 weeks of coaching.
Then they’re positioned on a trainee wage for 12 months.
Training is accomplished with a mixture of a tram simulator and on the highway, supervised by a coach.
Those wishing to turn out to be a tram driver in Melbourne will need to have no legal file, a full Victorian driver’s licence with not more than three demerit factors previously 12 months or greater than six previously three years.
Despite the job being fairly aggressive and extremely sought-after, to those that are inquisitive about studying methods to function the modes of transport themselves, Wing has one piece of recommendation: “Do not give up.”
