Why do you want to be a train driver?

[TDK]

Ok, I am intrigued on the reasons why all these folks on this forum and country wide want to be a train driver. This is a question that is asked when at interview so if you could answer honestly.

I will start this off with why I wanted the job!.

Change in career, I ran my own business before and had enough.
Easy on my body - I did manual work.
Money - good salary
Loner - All my hobies and my previos work was alone and this apealed to me.

Be as honnest as you can and the answer I always wanted to be a train driver is a fail

 

[Lincoln_biker]

From someone outside the industry, my reasons for wanting a driving job are as follows:

Career Change - 10 Years in an engineering job and it's time to move on.
Daylight - I work in a flourescently lit workshop and I would like to do something on the move, without having to go down the Sales Rep or Service Engineer route.
Pay - Anyone that doesn't want a well paid job is kidding nobody!
Hours - I currently work structured hours and 9-5 is a mill stone around one's neck. My working day is extended by 2-3 hours as the normal 20 minute journey from home to work in rush hour can easily last over an hour.
Conditions - Sales Reps and Service Engineers can work hours 'to suit' and I've known reps who only have weekend relationships with their families.

Honest? yes. Naive? Maybe. But it's got to be worth a go...

 

[Tomnick]

Can the signalling grades join in too? Quite a similar job in a lot of ways, and not everyone wants to be a driver . With that in mind, I suspect that my reasons for wanting to join the railway are broadly similar to a lot of the potential or actual drivers.

Interest: There's no denying that I've always had an interest in the operation of the railway, and my voluntary efforts in the signalling grade gave me a good idea of what the role involved and a decent understanding in the principles of signalling and general operations (though it's always worth making the point at interview, if you do have relevant voluntary experience, that you appreciate the difference between the two and that you accept that it doesn't mean that you've got all the knowledge you need for your new job!).

Work/life balance: In my previous job, I'd spend sometimes whole weeks - or more - away from home in various parts of the country, and it was expected that I'd accept this without question (although they did always ask me if I wanted to - there was only one acceptable answer!), and even if I was working near home, the working days would be very long with lots of unpaid overtime, and often weekends too (though they did usually use discretion and pay me extra for those!). Now most working days are 8 hours, and I can happily decline any more than an hour on top of what the base roster says (and will get paid for any overtime that I do choose to work!) - either way, I still get a decent amount of time at home with the family at some point every day!

Taking work home: It used to happen all the time! If nothing else, I'd know that, at the end of a bad day, most of the backlog of work that I'd not had time to tackle would be sitting waiting for me the next day. Now I can walk away at the end of my turn of duty, and come back the next day to a fresh set of problems .

Pay: It obviously reflects the level of responsibility for the safety of the line, but it's still pretty decent!

Shiftwork: There are downsides, like working nights, getting up at 0300 for early turns, and being stuck at work on a summer evening when everyone else is in the pub, but personally I think it's worth it to avoid the chaos of rush hour every day and be able to go shopping, walk the jobs or go for an afternoon pint with my shiftworking friends, whilst the 9-5 slaves are all stuck at work.

Working environment: My previous job involved quite a bit of outdoor working, but there was an increasing amount of office time pushing bits of paperwork around. Now, I've got my own 'office', where I can have the doors and windows open to enjoy the fresh air of a nice warm afternoon and generally enjoy my own company!

 

[Legzr1]

How's about this:

"I didn't have a clue what a 'traction trainee' was but it was double the wages of YTS".

There were no shed driver vacancies at the time so had to take this instead...

 

[reapz]

Fame and fortune

 

[NI 271]

I would have done it in 1996, however as the father of a new-born at the time, and thanks to the bank I had my mortgage with at the time refusing me a 12 month break from my mortgage (I was only 25 then so it wasn't as if it made a difference as far as paying it off was concerned), the chance passed me by. As it was, I didn't dare take the chance of failure as I was in a secure job which meant security for my family. Anyway, things have changed now...

Change of career: I'm fed up wiping other people's arses for them. I've been working as a supervisor, then manager, since 2003 and I've realised it isn't what I want to do anymore. I've been with the same company for over twenty years and although I'm happy there, worrying about myself and nobody else (obviously safety of others is a consideration, however as a driver I'd be in total control of that) is something I'd love to go back to.

Shift work: I've only recently come off shift work (a mix of shifts each week, 0230-1015, 0930-1745, 1630-0030, not one of those for a whole week at a time), and I miss it already. I miss my midweek days off, I miss my lates, and although I don't mind having the weekend off, it's not enough of a pay-off to compensate for having to work Monday-Friday days.

Working environment: I worked as a bus driver for 11 years, and still do the odd bit here and there even today. Office work pays the bills (well, almost) but it isn't half as enjoyable to me as driving was. I'd have been even happier as an HGV driver, as I do love my own company.

Pay/conditions: As an outsider, it appears railway staff do very well here. I don't do too badly where I am now; I get 41 days' annual leave, which I can largely (barring Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years' Day, where no service means you must have the day as holiday) choose when I take them, however the reduction in holiday entitlement (I do end up taking a lot of leave just for the sake of it as I don't go away on holiday as most do) would be more than compensated for by the salary once qualified, which is very competitive, and certainly a significant increase on what I currently earn.

Timing: The timing is now right. Kids have pretty much grown up (youngest is 15), marriage isn't really going too well, so there is little to fear as far as I'm concerned by sacking my current job to chase the dream, certainly nothing I need to stay at home for. On top of that, I'd be happy to move anywhere in the country (or even beyond) to take one such position.



I'm pretty determined that it's going to happen within the next two years. If it doesn't, it won't be for want of trying.

 

[Quickthorn]

Ok, I am intrigued on the reasons why all these folks on this forum and country wide want to be a train driver. This is a question that is asked when at interview so if you could answer honestly.

I will start this off with why I wanted the job!.

Change in career, I ran my own business before and had enough.
Easy on my body - I did manual work.
Money - good salary
Loner - All my hobies and my previos work was alone and this apealed to me.

Be as honnest as you can and the answer I always wanted to be a train driver is a fail

This could almost be me!

Change of career: Ive been self employed for 13 years or so. It's never been that lucrative, but I used to enjoy it. In the last 5 years, things have become pretty tight, so I now have to do a Summer job to top up my self employed earnings. The only way forward would be to make a big investment in kit, but I don't have the capital, and even if I did I would earn more by putting it in the bank.

I'm getting old: The work is physical, even strenuous. I can still do it at the moment, but people in this industry seem to get very old very suddenly. A colleague of mine used to run rings round everyone until he was about 55. Now, 5 years later, he needs a break every 20 mins or so. He says this is his last year, and he's going to retire, but I don't have enough money to retire early. I'm looking at working till I'm 66 at least, and would like to move into something less physical.

Money: These days, I make about £10k per year. If I went full time with the Summer job, I'd be on £15k (It's about £1/hr more than minimum wage). Half of that goes on rent and council tax; add transport and other bills, I'd have £300 per month to live on. Most jobs that pay more than a pittance want experienced people, so a job that includes full training and pays a decent wage would be ideal ("decent wage" to me would be anything over £20k).

Working alone: It never goes down well with other people if I mention this, but I prefer my own company. I normally work alone unless risk assessments show it's not safe, but even with other people on site, the work is solitary and we spend most of the day with ear defenders on.

Interest in the job: I wouldn't say I'm a spotter, but yes, I am interested in UK railways.

Working patterns: I'd prefer a varied working pattern rather than constant Monday-Friday. I like working weekends if I get time during the week. Holidays like Christmas and Easter aren't particularly special to me. What I would like is to work fewer and longer shifts rather than the 7.5 hours x 5 of the standard week.

Aptitude: Even if I say so myself, I think I tick all the boxes, and believe I could do the job well, but for every job out there, I'd imagine that there are half a dozen similar or better. As someone else put in another post, it'll be a case of being in the right place at the right time - something I accept may never happen, because of the sheer numbers of other applicants.

 

[svrdan]

There are many reasons why people want to be train drivers:
Mine are


Career Change: I Can argue that this will be my only career if i get into the railways. For the past six years and before that even, ive tended to focus towards the Theatre and Film industry through education weather that be college, or university. But through interest, i feel that i feel that the railways are a 2nd home to me. Ive been on work experience n booking offices, volunteered at railways and want to have a full long career in the industry.

I do think both through enjoyment and professionalism i have the aptitudes and skills that are required, we just have to hope that the TOC`s see this too.

 

[#1 driver]

How's about this:

"I didn't have a clue what a 'traction trainee' was but it was double the wages of YTS".

There were no shed driver vacancies at the time so had to take this instead...

you should have tried being a guard first .

---------------------------------

family job for me .

 

[Bob Ames]

because...

- They pay you to have a good bash
- You hate traffic and pedestrians
- How many other jobs allow you to visit multiple cities every day?
- That feeling of pride when you safely deliver 400+ people to their destination (and they didn't even give a thought to your amazing driving!)
- The adrenalin rush of 125 mph and realising that any track fault could cause a derailment at any point (but you'd save everyone if it happened)
- The guilty pleasure of finding out that Network Rail was fined a cool £4 Million for the high-speed derailment that you were involved in
- You just love the sound of that 2-tone horn in tunnels

 

[Legzr1]

you should have tried being a guard first .

---------------------------------

family job for me .

The T.C.C. made sure we all got a taste of being banged about in vans at 30mph over line speed and how to light a tail lamp without paraffin or wicks

 

[mindthedoors]

The chicks love it

 

[daddy_badger]

how about not saying:

because I'm an enthusiast and can't wait to get my mates filming me over the routes.

 

[evoluzione]

I was made redundant / constructively dismissed / paid off in September last year.

Saw job advertised in October and went for it, main reasons I wanted it are:

Job Security
Get to work alone
The pay and Pension
Union Looking after me
And I get to drive trains

 

[Will.C]

Im young and need a secure career thats going to provide for me & my family.
Good pay.
Would like a job I could be proud of, I think been a train driver is a position that people respect. An awful lot more than what I do now which is deliver peoples shopping!!
I work as a delivery driver and don't mind working alone for long periods of time.
Have always worked shifts day or night so this kind of work suits. Like having days off in the week so working a weekend is fine.
I have some knowledge of and a general interest in the railways passed on from my grandad who is an enthusiast.

 

[A-driver]

Train drivers respected?!

As far as most are concerned we sit about doing nothing all day going in strike every other week if the company refuse to pay us an extra few grand!

I would say many have more respect for a delivery driver actually...you bring people food and drink. We take them to work where they don't want to be on horribly expensive, dirty, late and crowded trains!

 

[Will.C]

Train drivers respected?!

As far as most are concerned we sit about doing nothing all day going in strike every other week if the company refuse to pay us an extra few grand!

I would say many have more respect for a delivery driver actually...you bring people food and drink. We take them to work where they don't want to be on horribly expensive, dirty, late and crowded trains!

Haha yeah but its quite a responsible job to have and do isn't it. I can tell you that I don't get an awful lot of respect on the doorsteps when delivering lol most of the time they cant wait to shut the door in your face and for you to clear off.
I think my girlfriend would definitely sympathise with the horribly expensive,dirty,late and crowded part as she commutes in and out of london everyday monday to friday.

 

[doubleamber]

Child hood dream, sick of factory work, love the railway, runs in the family.
Only problem is the amount of people going for a few jobs, still not giving up though.

 

[TDK]

Haha yeah but its quite a responsible job to have and do isn't it. I can tell you that I don't get an awful lot of respect on the doorsteps when delivering lol most of the time they cant wait to shut the door in your face and for you to clear off.
I think my girlfriend would definitely sympathise with the horribly expensive,dirty,late and crowded part as she commutes in and out of london everyday monday to friday.

You would be surprised how disrespectful passengers can be towards a driver if they are late running even to the degree of being totally abusive. The thing I hate is someone looking at their watch as you pull into a platform and then shake their head. I feel like driving slower just to pee them off even more

 

[notadriver]

The great thing is a train driver is likely to be earning more than a lot of the commuters to and from work and probably gets more time off too!

 

[455driver]

The great thing is a train driver is likely to be earning more than a lot of the commuters to and from work and probably gets more time off too!

Not on some of the routes I drive, some of the commuters can earn in a week what I earn in a year.

 

[driver9000]

Be as honest as you can and the answer I always wanted to be a train driver is a fail

Yay! I fail

It honestly was my goal. I appealed to me as it wasn't sitting in an office all day long staring at the same 4 walls. The thought of that really didn't appeal even when I was a child, I want to be out and about. The thought of working 9-5 sounds incredibly boring, I enjoy shift working and the benefits it can bring.

I remember as a child watching long trains flying past, catching a glimpse of the man in the front and thinking 'that's the life for me'. It was still BR in those days and through an acquaintance of my dad who was a Driver found out little bits about life on the footplate. It was all very appealing to me, driving trains all over the place on a variety of traction, loads and routes. I didn't know about the pay structure or the hours I just knew I wanted to be one of these guys I saw in the front of the train. I'm not a number cruncher but I am an enthusiast having held an interest in railways since I was first invited into the cab of a 47 when I was around 4 years old.

The railway changed since those days and Drivers are more specialised in their work today be it driving multiple units on the suburban, express or freight work but for me there is no other job I'd rather be doing and I spent a long time getting where I am now. Thankfully I got in when I was young so I haven't had to spend too long in a job I didn't really want to be doing although I was in a job I didn't enjoy for long enough.

It's not all sunshine and roses, I'm more than aware of the problems we face as Drivers but on the whole it's a good job to have and I pride myself on having achieved my keys.

 

[Geargrinder]

Why do I want to be train driver ? Got to have a plan B if I never make it as a depot driver

 

[sarahj]

how about not saying:

because I'm an enthusiast and can't wait to get my mates filming me over the routes.

If this is your reason, yikes.

The dream, flying up and down main lines at 90-100
The reality: spending an hour plus shunting around lovers walk in a 313 then all stations to seaford again.

Can catch the best of us out.

 

[A-driver]

If this is your reason, yikes.

The dream, flying up and down main lines at 90-100
The reality: spending an hour plus shunting around lovers walk in a 313 then all stations to seaford again.

Can catch the best of us out.

I think its quite important to take into account the reality of doing the job long term. Few of my colleagues are enthusiasts, to most of us it is no more than a job.

Its important to remember the difference between wanting to drive a train and wanting to be a train driver. Personally when I was a trainee I found it all incredibly exciting. I loved turning up each day to learn something new, the first day I sat in the chair and moved a train (15mph from Chalk5 road to the gullet in Selhurst depot) was amazing and I was very excited about starting the handling with a DI.

To be brutally honest, I turned up to work at 5am this morning, looked at my diagram and thought 'bring on 1230 when I can go home!'. Not that I don't enjoy it but the buzz of driving a train, something which I wanted to do as a kid, has worn off and it is no more than another day at the office. I drove a handful of trains Saturday, yesterday, today and will again tomorrow and the day after. It obviously won't be as exciting as it once was.

I'm really not saying its a bad job, I still love it and wouldn't want to do anything else, but it is worth bearing in mind that if you want to be a train driver to fulfil a childhood dream of driving a train then the reality isn't as romantic as it seems and weather you spend your day towing trucks full of ballast from depot to worksite, ferrying commuters around south londons suburbs or whizzing holiday makers and business travellers from London to Edinburgh at 125mph it is just a job and after a few months of 'excitement' you have to be prepared for the realities of doing the same thing 4-5 days a week at all sorts of funny hours for a good chunk of your working life.

Personally my motivation for becoming a driver was the money, the lifestyle of shift work (I hated working 9-5) and getting out of office work (instead of staring at the same 4 walks everyday I now have a view out my window of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and London whizzing past me at 100mph).

 

[scotraildriver]

For me no phones, E-mails, fax's, and no other people can mess your job up. I spent many years in retail management and no matter how well I did my job, there was always someone else causing me some sort of trouble. Now I only need to worry about myself and as long as I do my job properly that's all I concern myself with. Oh, and a 4 day week, great salary, fabulous pension, security, long weekends off.

Yes, like any job after a while the novelty wears off but don't let anyone kid anyone - in this day and age it is a great job.

 

[plastictaffy]

Since I was old enough to talk, I've only ever wanted to be a driver. I know we were told not to say that, but it's true.

I'm a guard at the moment - and I can honestly say it's everything I ever hoped it would be.

The best things about working on the railway??

Talking to people on the train - everyone has a different reason for travelling, and some of them are real characters with proper stories to tell.

I get the backing of a damn good union.

The pay and conditions are very good - never before have I worked in a job where as long as it's covered and the trains run (and of course you're safe and legal to work) management turn a blind eye to fiddles that go on.

There's always a bit of skirt to look at on the platforms.

I get more breaks (even if it's not a PNB, layovers between trains are yours to do as you please in) than I've ever had.

The salary is very good, and you can always negotiate what you get paid for working a rest day.

The very best thing??
Leaving people behind who've turned up late for your train who then moan that you had the bare faced audacity to leave on time!!! Never ceases to make me smile, every time.

The reasons above are exactly the same reasons why I want to be a driver!!

 

[TDK]

Since I was old enough to talk, I've only ever wanted to be a driver. I know we were told not to say that, but it's true.

I'm a guard at the moment - and I can honestly say it's everything I ever hoped it would be.

The best things about working on the railway??

Talking to people on the train - everyone has a different reason for travelling, and some of them are real characters with proper stories to tell.

I get the backing of a damn good union.

The pay and conditions are very good - never before have I worked in a job where as long as it's covered and the trains run (and of course you're safe and legal to work) management turn a blind eye to fiddles that go on.

There's always a bit of skirt to look at on the platforms.

I get more breaks (even if it's not a PNB, layovers between trains are yours to do as you please in) than I've ever had.

The salary is very good, and you can always negotiate what you get paid for working a rest day.

The very best thing??
Leaving people behind who've turned up late for your train who then moan that you had the bare faced audacity to leave on time!!! Never ceases to make me smile, every time.

The reasons above are exactly the same reasons why I want to be a driver!!

You will lose the passenger attributes of your job if you beacame a driver, would you be happy with that?

 

[SkinnyDave]

Great reading some of replies.

This could be a thread in itself but has anyone became a driver and its not been what they thought it would be?

 

[scotraildriver]

Not in the job itself but I was surprised how little I knew about railways. I thought I had a good knowledge as I always had an interest in railways but I soon realised I hadn't a clue. The rules/regulations were way more intense than I imagined.