Train Drivers
#1
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Train Drivers
You don't have to steer, or deal with passengers, all you do is start and stop, parp your horn, turn light on and off, no oncoming traffic, .....and you want a bigger that 3% pay rise?
This....despite earning 38k with overtime earnings for another 12k?
Get real!
This....despite earning 38k with overtime earnings for another 12k?
Get real!
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I know a train driver. Reckons it can be the most agonizingly boring job in the world. I don't know if they need to pay the sort of money they do to retain staff who can at least hold their concentration, but i reckon it must be a pretty unfullfilling profession.
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#7
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I don't the salaries are quite that high. I think top dollar at Freightliner is around that area but its the exception rather than the rule.
If I could retrain as a train driver I would do it tomorrow. I think its a tough job to get into. 1000s of applicants for a handful of jobs.
If I could retrain as a train driver I would do it tomorrow. I think its a tough job to get into. 1000s of applicants for a handful of jobs.
Last edited by EddScott; 18 November 2009 at 02:10 PM.
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A guy I used to go to school with wanted to be a train driver. I asked him why as I thought it would a boring job. He said it wouldn't be boring as he could wave to people on the bridges.
He was an idiot.
He was an idiot.
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In Dave's defence I did freak when I saw how much they get paid, would never have thought it would be that much! Not like you have to have a degree to do it is it? To be on that where I work, you would have to have mucho responsibility (Area Management) and lots of qualifications in a relevant subject - and this is public sector!
Please tell me how it is worth that much money! I would really like to know!
Please tell me how it is worth that much money! I would really like to know!
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I don't the salaries are quite that high. I think top dollar at Freightliner is around that area but its the exception rather than the rule.
If I could retrain as a train driver I would do it tomorrow. I think its a tough job to get into. 1000s of applicants for a handful of jobs.
If I could retrain as a train driver I would do it tomorrow. I think its a tough job to get into. 1000s of applicants for a handful of jobs.
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They're paid a lot because it's a boring job and without the attractive salary, there would be a high turnover of staff, with all the associated re-training costs etc.
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In Dave's defence I did freak when I saw how much they get paid, would never have thought it would be that much! Not like you have to have a degree to do it is it? To be on that where I work, you would have to have mucho responsibility (Area Management) and lots of qualifications in a relevant subject - and this is public sector!
Please tell me how it is worth that much money! I would really like to know!
Please tell me how it is worth that much money! I would really like to know!
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It's only the high speed drivers that get the larger wage packets.
My old dear retrained from a conductor to a driver, and had a book thicker than war and peace to learn word for word.
She has to learn all the routes she drives, with every sign, waypoint and signal in order and to the timings.
Not my idea of fun, but where public safety is concerned, they don't **** around.
My old dear retrained from a conductor to a driver, and had a book thicker than war and peace to learn word for word.
She has to learn all the routes she drives, with every sign, waypoint and signal in order and to the timings.
Not my idea of fun, but where public safety is concerned, they don't **** around.
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I'd disagree with you there, train driving hasn't always been so well paid, it's more down to the unions agreeing on attractive pay deals, a LOT of the older boys on the job have been driving for most of their working life starting with BR, maybe the job was more interesting back then but not much.
Last edited by cookstar; 18 November 2009 at 02:25 PM.
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Responsibility. An A380 pilot steers the aircraft down the runway, as soon as the main gear gets airborne, he presses auto pilot, and sits back and relaxes until the gear makes contact at his destination. He isn't paid 100k a year to fly the plane, he's paid to know how to fly it, should he need to.
I don't mean to belittle train drivers, but for that money it does strike me as an easy job. There's no shame in that. On a £ per hour basis I'd bet my job is one of the easiest of anyone on the forum. My mate gets £55k a year working offshore and the actual tasks he does are super-simple. He gets paid that amount to be away from home for 2 weeks solid in a hostile environment. Train drivers presumably get paid to work unfavourable hours doing a fairly easy job that does, nevertheless, involve ensuring the safety of hundreds of passengers.
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Always wondered - how do trains navigate? Presumably this is mostly down to the signalmen rather than drivers, but how does it all work through busy junctions and so on? Must be quite a headache, especially when some trains are more delayed than others so they're all in the wrong order. I don't think I've ever knowingly been on a train that's gone the wrong way! Is it all automated with transponders somehow?
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Always wondered - how do trains navigate? Presumably this is mostly down to the signalmen rather than drivers, but how does it all work through busy junctions and so on? Must be quite a headache, especially when some trains are more delayed than others so they're all in the wrong order. I don't think I've ever knowingly been on a train that's gone the wrong way! Is it all automated with transponders somehow?
That's my job, and yes it's a headache.
#25
That's really not the same deal. I know very little about flying an A380 or driving a train however, I'd bet if you plonked me in the cockpit of either and said, "make everyone safe" that I could stop the train with ease but would fail to safely land a plane. Flying a plane needs skills, knowledge and experience and the fact that autopilot exists isn't in itself a reason to suggest it's easy. By comparison there is far less involvment in driving a train and you probably have to be far more negligent to 'fvck' things up.
I don't mean to belittle train drivers, but for that money it does strike me as an easy job. There's no shame in that. On a £ per hour basis I'd bet my job is one of the easiest of anyone on the forum. My mate gets £55k a year working offshore and the actual tasks he does are super-simple. He gets paid that amount to be away from home for 2 weeks solid in a hostile environment. Train drivers presumably get paid to work unfavourable hours doing a fairly easy job that does, nevertheless, involve ensuring the safety of hundreds of passengers.
I don't mean to belittle train drivers, but for that money it does strike me as an easy job. There's no shame in that. On a £ per hour basis I'd bet my job is one of the easiest of anyone on the forum. My mate gets £55k a year working offshore and the actual tasks he does are super-simple. He gets paid that amount to be away from home for 2 weeks solid in a hostile environment. Train drivers presumably get paid to work unfavourable hours doing a fairly easy job that does, nevertheless, involve ensuring the safety of hundreds of passengers.
It's a bit like saying being an Stockbroker is easy because all you do is buy low and sell high.
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True, that's why the lower pay of nursing/firefighter/police is all the more baffling. But then why pay more if you can get bums on seats i suppose. But that's a completely different discussion.
It does make you wonder how the pay level for train drivers has reached this level though. Either it's due to the high cost of training etc, or that the less capable candidates you'd get if you paid less have demonstrated that you have to be a bit better than average not to get it all horribly wrong...
It does make you wonder how the pay level for train drivers has reached this level though. Either it's due to the high cost of training etc, or that the less capable candidates you'd get if you paid less have demonstrated that you have to be a bit better than average not to get it all horribly wrong...
#27
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That's really not the same deal. I know very little about flying an A380 or driving a train however, I'd bet if you plonked me in the cockpit of either and said, "make everyone safe" that I could stop the train with ease but would fail to safely land a plane. Flying a plane needs skills, knowledge and experience and the fact that autopilot exists isn't in itself a reason to suggest it's easy. By comparison there is far less involvment in driving a train and you probably have to be far more negligent to 'fvck' things up.
I don't mean to belittle train drivers, but for that money it does strike me as an easy job. There's no shame in that. On a £ per hour basis I'd bet my job is one of the easiest of anyone on the forum. My mate gets £55k a year working offshore and the actual tasks he does are super-simple. He gets paid that amount to be away from home for 2 weeks solid in a hostile environment. Train drivers presumably get paid to work unfavourable hours doing a fairly easy job that does, nevertheless, involve ensuring the safety of hundreds of passengers.
I don't mean to belittle train drivers, but for that money it does strike me as an easy job. There's no shame in that. On a £ per hour basis I'd bet my job is one of the easiest of anyone on the forum. My mate gets £55k a year working offshore and the actual tasks he does are super-simple. He gets paid that amount to be away from home for 2 weeks solid in a hostile environment. Train drivers presumably get paid to work unfavourable hours doing a fairly easy job that does, nevertheless, involve ensuring the safety of hundreds of passengers.
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Yes, a lot of signals are fitted with AWS (automatic warning system) & TPWS (train protection warning system) .. basically if you fly through a signal displaying a danger aspect, or approach with a higher speed than authorised, you will get an automatic brake application, however not all signals are fitted with such systems due to the huge cost involved in the installation.
So yes you could just drive straight though them, it happens, not very often though.
Last edited by cookstar; 18 November 2009 at 03:15 PM.
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Always wondered - how do trains navigate? Presumably this is mostly down to the signalmen rather than drivers, but how does it all work through busy junctions and so on? Must be quite a headache, especially when some trains are more delayed than others so they're all in the wrong order. I don't think I've ever knowingly been on a train that's gone the wrong way! Is it all automated with transponders somehow?
My Grandfather was a signalman (Tonbridge Signal box) for many, many years, did look somewhat complex, but was great for a kid to watch him at work and be allowed to press the odd button.