St Marys say final goodbye to station master Bob Dunn after 34 years of service

BOB Dunn begin selling train tickets at Stanmore at 16, after 34 at St Marys, the station master said goodbye to the rails on Friday.

Bob Dunn has been described as the heart of St Marys.

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LAST Friday St Marys commuters said their final goodbye to station master Bob Dunn, who had served the local community for more than 30 years.

Mr Dunn moved to Sydney and got a job selling tickets at Stanmore when he was just 16. Moving to Colyton, Mr Dunn was later transferred to St Marys where he has stayed for the past 34 years.

Walking into his last shift on Friday Mr Dunn said there had been a few tears already. “It’s a bit hard to accept,” he admitted.

“If I said I wouldn’t miss it I would be lying — it’s been a hell of a big part of my life for 40 years.

“About 95 per cent of the customers here are great; they just want a happy transition to and from work

Mr Dunn has been working in St Marys for 35 years.

“We had our bad share here ... we got through it.”

Acknowledging he had become “part of the furniture” at St Marys, Mr Dunn said he had seen some big changes.

“I have seen a lot change here ... in 1992 we had a huge renovation, then we went all electronic and now we are all on Opal cards — it’s crazy.”

Balloons and posters lined St Marys station for Mr Dunn’s last day, with friends colleagues and commuters all stopping in to say goodbye.

Bob Dunn has been working with Sydney Trains for more than forty years.

Among those was co-worker Donna Larsen, who said Bob was “the heart of St Marys”.

“He is St Marys as far as I am concerned,” she said.

“He is the boss that everyone wanted to work for — you don’t even take sick days when he is here.”

Christine Regan, of St Clair, has caught the train from St Marys for the past 20 years and agreed Bob would be sorely missed.

Friend and colleague Donna Larsen says Bob will be sorely missed.

“For the past two decades I have watched Bob assist others, take care of the station, deal with crisis and issues, and generally make people welcome and comfortable.”

“Around 15 years ago, I took a tumble at the ticket barrier and broke my nose.

“Bob collected me up, helped me cancel my meeting contacts, protected me when I passed out, called my partner and an ambulance.

“Bob is a community treasure.” She said.