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Chances of Driver jobs abroad....
- Thread starter Holt0121
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As you haven't specified which countries i can fundamentally tell you that you won't be so keen on moving abroad after you find out the salaries of train drivers abroad it's pretty bad.
After my marriage broke up I seriously looked at learning German, emigrating and trying to get a job with DB. Then I found the wage with DB and immediately stopped...
In answer to your question I think its either a fairly well paid popular job worldwide so places like Australia and New Zealand don't tend to accept it as an in demand job. In other areas its really poorly paid, in comparison to the UK.
In answer to your question I think its either a fairly well paid popular job worldwide so places like Australia and New Zealand don't tend to accept it as an in demand job. In other areas its really poorly paid, in comparison to the UK.
Spankthemonkey
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From what i've heard, in places like the US and Australia where cross continental trips are commonplace you have to have engineering qualifications - no fitters on hand, a driver has to be able to keep the train going or be stranded hundreds of miles from anywhere.
PudseyBearHST
Member
I've had an opportunity to speak to some Conductors/Locomotive Engineers from the US. In the US, most rail companies are freight and to progress to a Locomotive Engineer, you need to become a Conductor. Few things worth noting is that a Locomotive Engineer (LE) is not really what we would consider to be an 'engineer' and by that I mean, no formal qualifications are required apart from regular High School Education.
The way it works in US is that you are paid per job rather than per hour or salary so for example, you might get paid $500 for the day for taking a train A to B and then back to A. Potentially you could earn anyway from $80,000 to about $150,000 per year if you work hard. But as a new recruit, you are on call 24-7, 365 days per year and they only have to give you 2 hours notice. So they could call you 1am on Christmas Day, and you would have to come in 2 hours later. Obviously as you become more senior, job security is higher and the shift pattern is better so for example, you might eventually just work Mon-Fri. As a recruit, you will get the worst jobs that no-one wants and also as a new recruit, this also means you will be first one to go if the Company wants to get rid of drivers. As these are freight companies, it is not like there is X number of trains per day and consequently Y number of drivers are required. Rather, the number of trains/jobs in the day will vary and job security is highly reliant on the economy. During a recession, many drivers will be furloughed as did in 2007.
Companies will not sponsor foreigners as quite simply they don't need to so it is a matter of getting into the country yourself (with a green card) and then applying. Also a UK train drivers won't be valid there (I think). I believe the equivalent of Mainline in the UK would be what they call Class I railroad. Pay and benefits is good but you have to work very hard and you will have little time to spend with your family/leisure.
Things might have changed so information might not be accurate.
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PudseyBearHST
Member
Can't speak about Australia but don't think it is true for US. They are called Locomotive/Passenger Engineers but you don't need more than high school education
Here's something that was posted here late last year when some vacancies came up on the New York subway system:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139435&highlight=New+york+subway+hiring+now
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139435&highlight=New+york+subway+hiring+now
Mintona
Established Member
One of the blokes at my depot moved to Australia last year, and I know of at least one other who's now working in Sydney.
I quite like the idea of Calgary for Canadian Pacific, but I have no idea where to even start
I quite like the idea of Calgary for Canadian Pacific, but I have no idea where to even start
One of the blokes at my depot moved to Australia last year, and I know of at least one other who's now working in Sydney.
I quite like the idea of Calgary for Canadian Pacific, but I have no idea where to even start
I'm the same, I would love Canada or Australia but I just don't know where to start.
PudseyBearHST
Member
That thread makes for interesting read. I did spot an error though: As a UK citizen, you cannot apply for the green card lottery so cross that off your list of ways to get in to the US. It is called a 'diversity' visa so it is aimed at countries where immigration to the US is low and UK is not one of them.
I would be interested to know if anyone did apply for that position but as people on the thread already mentioned, immigration is the hardest part as the company will not sponsor you. Even if they wanted to, their petition to the US government for the sponsorship would be rejected. For a company to sponsor a foreigner, they must convince the US government why no-one in the US could do the job and what skills a foreigner will bring (i.e. you) that a US citizen/permanent resident would not have. Obviously for a Train Driver, there is sufficient demand in the US and it is not particularly a skilled job so no company will sponsor you.
The easiest way to get to the US is marriage but even this can take many years before you actually get your green card. Remember, when applying to US train companies, you are not seen as a Qualified Train Driver but rather just a foreigner .
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PudseyBearHST
Member
I was speaking to a woman on a dating website and she was from a different country I told her what I did for a living and she laughed. I asked her what was so funny? She said only people in the "gettho" do that job. I soon told her it's far from the gettho in the UK
That is very true. Even from the culture I come from, train driver/guard is seen as a very 'low' job and pay is virtually peanuts. My mother hates the thought of me becoming a guard/driver even though my family have been working in the UK railways for decades!
But then you have the opposite extreme where train drivers are seen as much higher jobs particularly in the Far-East. They dress up very smartly almost as pilots which represents the status of the job over there. Compare it to the UK where in SWT, for example, you can wear t-shirt and shorts (and as I saw a few weeks, a driver wearing a (non-SWT?) cap 'back to front').
For some reason it takes longer by way of marriage it seems to be quicker on a fiance visa my ex did this we are still friends as we have a son together she moved out and had to marry within 3 months once out there
PudseyBearHST
Member
I didn't know that so thanks for that
I know a marriage visa can take 5-6 years and that is from the UK. If you're from the Far-East/Asia, it can take decades for a marriage visa to the US.
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Bromley boy
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I was speaking to a woman on a dating website and she was from a different country I told her what I did for a living and she laughed. I asked her what was so funny? She said only people in the "gettho" do that job. I soon told her it's far from the gettho in the UK
I've had a few comments like this.
Usually the people who are narrow minded enough to turn their noses up turn out to do rubbish jobs themselves that pay a lot less £££ in exchange for a lot more work than train driving!
axlecounter
Member
Switzerland is looking for drivers!
Is there a link?
I worked for sydney trains as a driver until we moved back to the uk 18 months ago.
You'll have to have australian residency/citizenship and the same would probably apply in the other cities. Both Melbourne and Brisbane were hiring recently - i heard 58 sydney drivers have been offered jobs in Melbourne and have accepted.
Generally they only hire trainees too.
Sydney trains is surburban work, NSW trains will travel further afield including Melbourne on XPTs.
Salary for a driver in Sydney is around $70k basic and you'll then earn around $20k minimum in penalty payments. Melbourne is significantly higher as its DOO, if my memory is correct i heard around $130k.
Many of the top managers in Sydney are from the U.k. Howard Collins formally from London underground is CEO for example and Rob Mason is CEO of NSW trains.
You'll have to have australian residency/citizenship and the same would probably apply in the other cities. Both Melbourne and Brisbane were hiring recently - i heard 58 sydney drivers have been offered jobs in Melbourne and have accepted.
Generally they only hire trainees too.
Sydney trains is surburban work, NSW trains will travel further afield including Melbourne on XPTs.
Salary for a driver in Sydney is around $70k basic and you'll then earn around $20k minimum in penalty payments. Melbourne is significantly higher as its DOO, if my memory is correct i heard around $130k.
Many of the top managers in Sydney are from the U.k. Howard Collins formally from London underground is CEO for example and Rob Mason is CEO of NSW trains.
axlecounter
Member
I was talking in general, since the average driver age here is quite high. You can see on https://company.sbb.ch/en/jobs-careers/vacancies/job-search.html (filter for Tätigkeit=Zugpersonal/Zugsteuerung/Zugführung and keyword "angehend" (=trainee). "Lokführer" means Driver).
Unfortunately the page is not available in english but anyway one of the prerequisites is at least a national language (german or french or italian).
A second language is required but only at level A1 and must not be known before getting the job.- Status