A RETIRED bus driver who came to Glasgow 50 years ago helped launch an exhibition dedicated to immigrant transport workers.

Mohammed Din, 81, was one of the many Asian immigrants who arrived in the city in the 1950s and 60s who took up jobs on the buses.

Mr Din, now a great-grandfather, drove to Glasgow from Pakistan in a journey that took two months.

He started work as a conductor before becoming a bus driver and then inspector during his 25-year career with then Glasgow Corporation Transport.

He joined other former transport workers and their families at the Riverside Museum for the official launch of the exhibition, Journeys to Glasgow.

The idea for the show came about more than a year ago when Mr Din spotted a picture of his younger self standing in uniform next to the city tour bus.

John Messner, curator of transport and technology, at the museum, said: "One of my colleagues was working in the Muslim elderly day care centre in the Central Mosque and there was a photo of Mr Din on the buses.

"We started thinking about gathering stories from bus workers who had come from India and Pakistan in the 1950s and 60s.

"At that time there were a lot of immigrants and the corporation was always looking for more bus workers."

The shifts were often unsociable but it meant some men were able to save money and either stay and settle in the city or start their own businesses.

Mr Din, who now lives in Pollokshields, was working as a bank manager in the city of Bahawaplur, in what is today Pakistan, before he decided to come to Scotland.

He said: "My friend came from Glasgow by car.

"He asked me if I wanted to come back with him. I was a young man, I was 25, and just thought, why not?

"It took two months to get here. I just fell in love with Glasgow, everyone was so friendly."

Mr Din managed to work his way up to inspector and retired when he was 55.

He said: "I enjoyed working on buses because you met so many different people."

The museum has put together a short film to tell some of the stories.

Mr Messner worked with different community groups, including the day centre at Central Mosque as well as the Hindu Shanti Bhavan day centre, at Queen's Cross.

He said: "It was fascinating to hear so many different stories.

"The stories were mostly positive - everyone I spoke to seemed to really like their job and they either stayed on the buses for six months to find their feet in the city or they built a career from it.

"Scotland has a very strong Asian community so it's important for the nation to hear these stories."

Nand Lal Khurana, 74, came to Glasgow from New Delhi, India, in the late 1960s and was employed on the city's Subway.

He worked as a conductor, then driver before taking up the post as a station master at St Enoch.

Mr Khurana, who lives in Knightswood, said: "I was offered a job on the buses but I had just got married and didn't want the shift work.

"I asked for a job on the Subway because my passion is trains.

"I enjoyed doing my job until they closed the system in 1976 for modernisation."

The new display at the city's Riverside Museum can be found beside the restored 1949 Glasgow Corporation Transport Albion Venturer bus.

rachel.loxton@eveningtimes.co.uk