Working abroad as a train driver

[C.T.P.]

Hi, has anybody qualified in the UK as a train driver and subsequently went to become a train driver in a different European country? If yes, what steps were followed in order to complete the process and, finally, does the fact that our licences are European count for anything?

 

[Stigy]

Hi, has anybody qualified in the UK as a train driver and subsequently went to become a train driver in a different European country? If yes, what steps were followed in order to complete the process and, finally, does the fact that our licences are European count for anything?

Not speaking from experience, but a European Train Driving Licence is European in name only really, and anyone wanting to go to a TOC in another country (probably with the exception of Eurostar) would have to start as a trainee again.

 

[godfreycomplex]

The ETDL would take a small amount of time off driver training but a substantial amount of theoretical and practical training would have to take place. Each country has different rule books and signalling systems, not to mention track safety conventions and traction requirements, all of which added together make enough for a full trainee course. That being said however being a driver (albeit unqualified for that country’s system) is usually something on which HR departments of railways abroad look quite favourably



The only place UK qualified driver status would count for something substantial is the Eurostar, where Paris, Lille and Brussels drivers have full UK PTS and route and traction knowledge standards (I believe). The slight rub with this is that you’d have to join SNCF/SNCB as a trainee (driving exclusively local trains in France and Belgium) and wait until you got up to the TGV links (a brief cooling off period of about 15 years)

As has been mentioned above most of these opportunities have been..... well I can’t describe it without swearing but they’re pretty much gone for now so all that’s academic for most people for the moment sadly.

 

[whoosh]

UK train drivers were hired by an Australian freight company about 15 years ago. The company's Conductors and others lower down the line of promotion weren't very happy about being leapfrogged.

Train Driver is not currently on the list of jobs where there is a shortage of skills in Australia or New Zealand, so you would now have to get in on probably your partner's skills, hope for a trainee driver job to come up, hope to be successful, and then climb the seniority ladder to get the depot you wanted to be at.

It takes long enough to get the depot you want to be at in the UK sometimes!



If you could "just drive trains abroad", how come a separate rule book is needed to be learned for UK Eurostar drivers to be able to work the Belgian services (as well as the French one)?
It's always been a job where there are differences in each country.

 

[Robcuk]

Sydney trains hire regularly, i can’t remember the exact number of drivers there but it’s over a 1000.

You would have to apply for a trainee role and go through a similar process that we have here to get a position. All drivers start at central and as and when vacancies open move to the depots that would be closer to home.

Rules, traction and obviously routes are very different.

Melbourne, which i think is v line, hire fairly regularly and the money is superior to Sydney although the latter have guards

 

[Efini92]

The concept of the EU licence is to have the same medical standards across the EU. It’s got nothing to do with actually driving a train.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Would a qualified driver have a chance to get a permit for Australia or NZ? Would moving there be comparable to moving to Eire, no need to learn a new language? Whatabout moving to the US or Canada?

 

[PudseyBearHST]

Would a qualified driver have a chance to get a permit for Australia or NZ? Would moving there be comparable to moving to Eire, no need to learn a new language? Whatabout moving to the US or Canada?

With regards to the United States, you would need to get a green card off your accord before applying for trainee engineer or conductor positions. While being a train driver in the UK would put you in good stead, you would obviously still need to start as a trainee. Also, on Freight you need to become a conductor first before you can progress to engineer. Getting a green card is very difficult so the only realistic way is to get married to a US citizen/resident. There’s no way realistically any railroad company in the US would sponsor a driver or guard from the UK as there is no shortage of either.

Canada is similar so you would need to get residency by yourself before you can apply for engineer/conductor positions. But Canada is easier to immigrate to. They have an express entry application which takes into account your qualifications/work experience, etc... Although probably not too useful for train drivers/guards as most don’t have much more than high school education and you would realistically need at least a degree in order to apply for this.

 

[yorkie]

Can we avoid political / Brexit arguments in this forum section please?

I have moved some posts to:

Brexit makes it very difficult to move to another country and get employment

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/working-abroad-as-a-train-driver.212576 Thanks to Brexit I'd of thought it'd be very difficult to move to another country and get employment (other than Ireland).

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[JonasB]

Since the question is about European countries, I think the greatest hurdle is language. What languages do you speak apart from English?