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Are you proud to be a train driver?

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notadriver

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I might be looking at this with a glass half empty view but it seems this career attracts a lot of negative comments both from railway colleagues in other grades to the general public. When I'm asked what I do for a living I'm more likely to say just driver to avoid getting ridiculed. Has anyone ever felt the same way ?
 
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SPADTrap

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My pride comes from my personal job satisfaction not what people think of me! I wake up and love my job, little else matters especially what people may think of me and my profession!

I learned this after 6 months flying a turboprop about, the amount of 'wow this must be so glamorous' comments said all I need of know of those outside the industry's perception of what we do, so their opinion of you matters not!!
 
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Antman

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notadriver said:
I might be looking at this with a glass half empty view but it seems this career attracts a lot of negative comments both from railway colleagues in other grades to the general public. When I'm asked what I do for a living I'm more likely to say just driver to avoid getting ridiculed. Has anyone ever felt the same way ?
Click to expand...

I often felt like that when I was a bus driver but maybe it was just my paranoia?
 
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theironroad

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I enjoy the job and to be honest, I'm past caring what other people think about the job now. There is a lot of mis-information out there and while I used to try to challenge it, people often believe what they want to believe or read in the media that morning. I've come to the conclusion its not worth the battle. It really is quite a thankless job in many respects, and as the op says, it is from inside and outside the industry.

Not all rail staff hate drivers, just a fair amount and when you get to middle/upper management there seems to be a clause in their contracts to despise drivers, simply because they are prepared to stand up for decent pay and working conditions. The gulf between the two is enormous.
 
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455driver

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fowler9 said:
They just press a button and the train goes don't they?
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There was a poster on here a couple of years ago who thought we just programmed the computer and let it do all the driving. :shock:

I still cant work out if he was being serious or not! :lol:
 
fowler9

fowler9

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455driver said:
There was a poster on here a couple of years ago who thought we just programmed the computer and let it do all the driving. :shock:

I still cant work out if he was being serious or not! :lol:
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Ha ha ha. Yeah, you folks just sit there and read the paper while it drives itself. :D
 
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387star

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My uncle asked me how long the trainee course lasts I said normally a year if not longer he said that's very odd learning to drive a car doesn't take that long

:roll:
 
fowler9

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ml said:
My uncle asked me how long the trainee course lasts I said normally a year if not longer he said that's very odd learning to drive a car doesn't take that long

:roll:
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Ha ha, yeah, and it shows, you just have to try and cross a road to see that. :D Plenty of motorists just think the speed limit is a suggestion put in place so the council can profit off the poor car owner and that indicators are for flashing all at once when you want to park in a bus stop. I digress from the topic, apologies.
 
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Bodiddly

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Personally speaking, I get on very well with our drivers up here. We work together quite frequently as we do not have our own depot drivers. The problem is trying to blag one to move a set for us! As an industry I think there is a lot of envy over just how much power a driver holds over their employer. This came out recently when Scotrail drivers stopped covering Sunday's as OT, the management struck a deal very quickly with ASLEF.
I think you should be proud to be a driver given the chance of actually becoming one is in the thousands to one these days.
 
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387star

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Sorry if slightly off topic just been told this... What A coach driver thinks about train drivers..


I know it's not really to hard.
1 lever for forward and back.
1 for brake,and I believe a bleeper goes off every few mins that u have to turn off to make sure ur alert
 
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notadriver

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Bodiddly said:
Personally speaking, I get on very well with our drivers up here. We work together quite frequently as we do not have our own depot drivers. The problem is trying to blag one to move a set for us! As an industry I think there is a lot of envy over just how much power a driver holds over their employer. This came out recently when Scotrail drivers stopped covering Sunday's as OT, the management struck a deal very quickly with ASLEF.

I think you should be proud to be a driver given the chance of actually becoming one is in the thousands to one these days.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all replies. I need thicker skin. With what's been happening on the tube and FGW DOO the railways haven't been in the media in a good way of late.
 
telstarbox

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ml said:
Sorry if slightly off topic just been told this... What A coach driver thinks about train drivers..


I know it's not really to hard.
1 lever for forward and back.
1 for brake,and I believe a bleeper goes off every few mins that u have to turn off to make sure ur alert
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Ask the coach driver how many deaths he could cause if he made a mistake.

Air traffic controllers are paid handsomely but the pay reflects the responsibility. Same for drivers.
 
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HSTfan!!!

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I'm proud, I worked hard to get here for several years and it was my dream job as a kid, not many people can say they are doing their dream job. As much as mates take the **** they respect that it's what I wanted to do and that's it actually a difficult job. I get paid well for as some people like to put it "pushing a go and a stop button".
 
driver9000

driver9000

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Yes I'm proud to be a Train Driver. Why? Because I wanted to be a Driver since I was a young boy and I achieved my ambition at a relatively young age. I passed the barrage of tests first time and I passed the intense 12 month training programme. I'm now trusted to operate equipment worth millions of pounds travelling at incredible speeds over long distances carrying priceless cargo with minimal supervision from my managers. The money is nice but I wanted to be a Driver when the wages were nowhere near todays salary and I'd have joined up whatever the rate of pay was.

Knowing I've taken my passengers to their job, family, friends, holiday or wherever they're going in comfort without them giving me a second thought - they may have spent the journey gazing out of the window, watching a film, reading a book, sleeping - and if they felt comfortable enough to relax onboard then I did my job right and that makes me feel good that I've not factored into their minds at all. This job has its down side make no mistake but on the whole I still love climbing into the cab where I can set myself up how I want, be in my own space, relax, take power and drive off through some incredible scenery.
 
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SPADTrap

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driver9000 said:
Yes I'm proud to be a Train Driver. Why? Because I wanted to be a Driver since I was a young boy and I achieved my ambition at a relatively young age. I passed the barrage of tests first time and I passed the intense 12 month training programme. I'm now trusted to operate equipment worth millions of pounds travelling at incredible speeds over long distances carrying priceless cargo with minimal supervision from my managers. The money is nice but I wanted to be a Driver when the wages were nowhere near todays salary and I'd have joined up whatever the rate of pay was.

Knowing I've taken my passengers to their job, family, friends, holiday or wherever they're going in comfort without them giving me a second thought - they may have spent the journey gazing out of the window, watching a film, reading a book, sleeping - and if they felt comfortable enough to relax onboard then I did my job right and that makes me feel good that I've not factored into their minds at all. This job has its down side make no mistake but on the whole I still love climbing into the cab where I can set myself up how I want, be in my own space, relax, take power and drive off through some incredible scenery.
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Amen to that brother!
 
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physics34

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professional proud yeah, not particularly personally proud though. \the job doesnt use my brain enough... im always tired and the shift work has ruined my social and love life... so there ;)
 
dk1

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I have done various railway jobs from Box Lad to Crossing Keeper, Signalman to Clerical Officer. Although im quite passionate about railways I only became a driver for the money to be honest. I cannot say it does much for me & quite frankly wouldn't miss the job & have no desire to enter a cab again after i stop driving. Other peoples opinion are of no interest to me & i would be pretty quick at firing one across the bows of their proffession if they did make a negative or sarcastic comment.

One thing that i can truly say is that when doing all my previous positions, i was never envious of a drivers salary & have only noticed how much it obviously bothers others since i have done the job. It has all just fell into my lap really & not even sure why i suddenly perused that vacancy list back in May 1998 to become one.
 
fowler9

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ml said:
Sorry if slightly off topic just been told this... What A coach driver thinks about train drivers..


I know it's not really to hard.
1 lever for forward and back.
1 for brake,and I believe a bleeper goes off every few mins that u have to turn off to make sure ur alert
Click to expand...

Well that's about it. I watched a documentary a few years back which followed a BMI flight from I think Birmingham to Malaga. It was a 737-300. The pilot pushed a few levers, got it a few hundred feet off the ground, turned on autopilot, didn't do anything else really until it was a few hundred feet off the ground at Malaga. I bet the coach driver would have thought he could easily do that as well and the only reason he wasn't paid as much as an airline pilot was some weird social bias. :D
 
Johncleesefan

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I'm a trainee and very new to the industry but I'm incredibly proud, firstly for getting the job in the first place, that was very hard work. Mow I'm the job I am loving it. Everything I thought it would be (never had it down as a glamorous job).
Taking punters where they need to go safely and comfortably is what its about.

I too have mates who take the **** (one lever to do the job etc) but they respect it and know its responsible and are proud as I always wanted the job since I was young, railway kid me haha
 
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Dieseldriver

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I have never had someone tell me I'm overpaid or that it's an easy job once I've briefly explained what train driving entails. I think that says a lot. I try not to pay any attention to the ignorant views of the uninformed.
 
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redbutton

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fowler9 said:
Well that's about it. I watched a documentary a few years back which followed a BMI flight from I think Birmingham to Malaga. It was a 737-300. The pilot pushed a few levers, got it a few hundred feet off the ground, turned on autopilot, didn't do anything else really until it was a few hundred feet off the ground at Malaga. I bet the coach driver would have thought he could easily do that as well and the only reason he wasn't paid as much as an airline pilot was some weird social bias. :D
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And more modern planes have autoland as well as autopilot. That's been a factor in several mishaps- some airlines only train their pilots to use the automation, so when it's not available for whatever reason their hand-flying skills are barely competent.

That said, starting salaries for airline pilots are far lower than for us train drivers. And most pilots have to pay for their own training.

So we do have it very good, at least in that respect.
 
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