Steve Gollop was born in 1967 and joined British Rail: Western Region as a Traction Trainee/Secondman at Old Oak Common depot in West London in 1984. He became a Driver at old Oak Common in 1988, becoming a Traction Inspector at Didcot, staying in this role from 1990 to 1992. He then moved in 1992 to Reading as a Driver Leader in Network SouthEast, before becoming a Driver Standards Manager for Thames Trains until 1997.

He then joined Connex South Eastern as Employee Relations Assistant at Ashford until 1998. Staying at Connex South Eastern, he became a Driver Manager for Kent Link in Orpington, Connex South Eastern until his departure in 1999. He then was the Head of Drivers at Reading for Thames Trains between 1999 and 2007, when he started working as Driver Standards Manager at Paddington for Great Western Railway.