So basically my buddy would kill to be a train engineer and he loves it but he’s just looking at the Salary and wondering if He should continue with his dreams He looked up the Average salary of a UK train driver and if you are experienced after a few years the average salary is around 55-60k a year. Now we live in ireland so most would say that’s and Ok amount since average salary here in ireland is 24k to 30k. What do you guys think is 60k a year to be a British rail driver Good or bad ? and Is it worth leaving your home country to pursue
The salary is definitely the best for a working class job by a long way. Even with a degree, it can take many years before you can earn a salary of £50k+ and often that is with a lot more stress than a train driver. A lot of companies will stipulate a maximum distance/time from the depot to your address and won’t accept relocation. Are there no opportunities closer to home?
well I mean we have Irish rail in my country which is decent enough but my buddy is inlove with british trains
How much research has your friend put into this? It’s not the type of job you just walk into, and it’s not the sort of thing you can just apply for and say you’d be relocating if you got the job. As Olaf covered, the rail industry is very, very strict on commute times to & from work.
The salary is good but there's Normally only half a dozen driver positions advertised per year. You need to live near the depot of the rail company you want to work for, I think the maximum distance permitted is around an hours travel. Driver training is a bit intense and you have to have a clean bill of health. Unfortunately I was diagnosed with diabetes shortly before my training and that was the end of that!
You also need to comply with very strict medical requirements including pretty much perfect vision in both eyes and essentially hear a pin drop on your hearing test. You need to pass a strict drugs and alcohol screening and continue to comply with that while employed (even over the counter cold or hayfever remedies could trip you up). 60k sounds a lot but the cost of property in most parts of the UK is horrendous and general cost of living keeps going up. Depending on the specific contract offered that might also include a "bolt on" for Sunday and anti social hours allowance and in some cases you may also be expected to work a certain amount of overtime for no extra payment.
Went for the test and interview myself last year and got through to the final interview. Max travel to the depot is 45 minutes Absolutely no alcohol in the bloodstream, random tests for that and drugs Almost any over the counter meds need notifying as well The training is like a uni course but in one year, with needing to know signals, bridges, crossings, speed limits, crossovers etc But that said there are many people who love it. Look at youtube channels like dad rail and so on... If your friend really wants to get into rail it doesn't have to be as a driver straight away so maybe look at doing other positions on the railway and then you get to hear about driver jobs FIRST as they're not often advertised outside of the industry
Freightliner have openings currently (public). But yes, definitely get into this young, apprenticeships etc are better for getting into this line of work. If you’re not eligible for apprenticeships then looking for railway work that’s not in the drivers seat will be the foot in the door.
