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[Ciel]

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[driver9000]

Any form of unmanned automated main line railway is a long way in the future so I wouldn't be too concerned about replaced by a computer just yet. The passenger sector is generally very stable and I can't think of any franchised operator culling Drivers in the last 20 years but redundancy is a very real risk in the freight sector but even then not all that common. Job security is one of the big draws for people to the grade.

Job progression is to Driver Instructor and Driver Manager if you want to maintain your hard earned competency but really you can climb up the ladder as high as you want (assuming you meet the criteria for the role) if you aren't bothered about keeping your keys. Each operator has its own grade structure which have additional grades such as those to deal with Drivers routine assessments for example.

Most operators have a learning and development programme with courses for you to attend and education up to degree level is available through the IRO (Institute of Railway Operators) which most operators have corporate membership with so joining is no cost to the employee.

 

[MostlyHarmless]

There are extremely few jobs these days that offer the level of security that you currently have - even careers like teaching which were essentially jobs for life, if you kept your nose clean, are no longer immune from redundancy. I suppose its down to what is more important - job security or job satisfaction