Barely six months ago she posted her first video on TikTok, now the East Flemish Elke scores tens of thousands of views with her videos about the ins and outs of her job as a train conductor at NMBS. “I make the videos during my break, so that the trains don’t run even slower,” she says, laughing.
The concept is very simple. With the microphone in one hand and the smartphone in the other, she calls out the various stops, as she does every day. One of the main tasks of a train conductor. But no matter how normal they are, the videos are catching on. The numbers don’t lie: a single video easily gets tens of thousands of views. Her most viewed video even exceeds half a million clicks. In just six months she managed to gather around 35,000 followers. “I didn’t expect it at all,” Elke beams at VTM News. “I accidentally went viral. I was just making a video of myself to test out TikTok.”
Infectious enthusiasm
Before she knew it, the video in question, in which she doesn’t even say anything, completely blew up. And just like that the train left. With the videos, Elke wants to dispel the wrong image people have about train conductors and show how much she enjoys the job. A trade that her father introduced her to four years ago. “It’s a really fun job to do. Usually we don’t even have any delays,” she emphasizes. She only records videos during her breaks. “The trains are not meant to run any slower,” she winks at the punctuality that sometimes leaves much to be desired.
Her enthusiasm is contagious, because she now receives many messages from viewers – especially women – who are interested in becoming a train conductor at NMBS. And that comes at just the right time, because the railway company is currently looking for 300 new train conductors. Vacancies that are difficult to fill.
The video that started it all has already been viewed more than 500,000 times:
Tags: Train conductor Elke scores TikTok videos videos break trains run slower
