What do train drivers do?

[jbb]

This is a genuine question that I don't know the answer to. I'm aware it could sound patronizing or dismissive of the job and is not intended to be so in any way, I want to find out the answer! But I don't know how else to ask it.

What exactly do train drivers have to do for their job?

It seems to me that to drive a train all you have to to is press accelerator to make the train go faster on leaving a station or a signal, and press the brakes when you get close to a station or a red signal. Which doesn't sound very demanding or requiring more than a couple of hours training. Now I'm sure there is a great deal more to it than that very patronizing description, it's a job that requires some knowledge and significant training.

So what is it that train drivers actually *do* other than press the go faster and the slow down controls at the appropriate times? If there are other questions that cover this I was unable to find them, if there are I'll withdraw this one happily.

 

[khib70]

This is a genuine question that I don't know the answer to. I'm aware it could sound patronizing or dismissive of the job and is not intended to be so in any way, I want to find out the answer! But I don't know how else to ask it.

What exactly do train drivers have to do for their job?

It seems to me that to drive a train all you have to to is press accelerator to make the train go faster on leaving a station or a signal, and press the brakes when you get close to a station or a red signal. Which doesn't sound very demanding or requiring more than a couple of hours training. Now I'm sure there is a great deal more to it than that very patronizing description, it's a job that requires some knowledge and significant training.

So what is it that train drivers actually *do* other than press the go faster and the slow down controls at the appropriate times? If there are other questions that cover this I was unable to find them, if there are I'll withdraw this one happily.

A great deal more than the things you mention, that's for sure. But I'm not going to list them because I'm not a driver and don't know them all, and there will be several people with the requisite knowledge along shortly.

But the idea of travelling on a train driven by someone with "a couple of hours training" fills me with naked fear....:eek:

 

[notadriver]

Hi JBB
Do you mind if I ask your age (seriously) so we can answer in context ?

 

[Lockwood]

I'd say that even the "Go faster" and "Go slower" bits are quite involved, knowing how much to put on or take off given the weight of what you are driving, current track geometry plus that of the track coming up ahead.

They also drink tea and wave to kids that stand on bridges waving down to them.

 

[Muzer]

I'll also defer to someone with more knowledge than me - I think I have a good idea but I'm sure the drivers on this forum can answer better.

@notadriver: I think THAT is a bit patronising. Surely age has nothing to do with how much they know about trains? Given this question, I would assume "little"

 

[Harlesden]

This is my impression - as an ordinary passenger - of what train operators "do".

It doesn’t seem to occur to you that a train operator is not simply one individual alone in a large long vehicle. A train operator is responsible for the safety of the hundreds of passengers being carried.
A train operator has to be technically aware of the class of train he/she in charge of so that minor faults can be quickly rectified without taking a train out of service; and major faults recognized immediately for what they are
A train operator has to be aware of line speed limits whether permanent or temporary because different sections of a line have different speed limits. Therefore the operator has to really know his/her line both in terms of track layout (points, junctions etc.) and signals.
You seem to focus on the operation of a train whereas the train cannot be operated at all, safely without exhaustive knowledge of the line it is to travel on.
Most important, a train operator has to remain ALERT every second he/she is in the cab and responsible for the train whether it is moving or not. Alertness is the key as is common sense and intelligence along with a total grasp of the fact that his progress along a line is only possible with the assistance of many others – whether track maintenance or signallers and even station staff.
The safe operation of a train is a team effort and if any member of the team falls down, the repercussions can be disastrous. However, the train operator is the one at the front of the train with immense responsibility both for his own safety and welfare but also the safety and welfare of every person on the train.

 

[TDK]

To answer the question in my opinion being a driver:

1. Completely rearrange your life to fit in with your job
2. Get up in the morning when folks are going to bed.
3. Ensure they are at their depot at their booking on time as if a train is cancelled this can cost the company £1000's
4. Ensure that they are fit for duty - self management in other words and responsibility on alcohol, sleep, prescribed and off the counter drugs etc.
5. Be completely aware of the days weather especially during the autumn.
6. Be completely conversant with their routes knowing exactly where they are during any weather or light conditions.
7. Know how their train works to a certain degree so if it stops or there is a fault they need to know how to fix it within 10 minutes.
8. Ensure they do not go more than 3mph over an permanent speed restrictions.
9. Know where signals are so they know where to stop and not impact on running times if the stop signal is miles away.
10. Be excellent at communications especially with the signaller so they completely understand any message given to them.
11. Are able to concentrate enough to ensure they do not make any mistakes, you can compare this to car driving, try to keep between 69 - 72 MPH on the motorway up and down hill with no cruise control. Not by staring at the speedo.
12. They must be able to learn new innovations quickly and accurately when they are introduced.
13. They are able to recognise risk and act accordingly - for example trespassers, signals wrongly being shown, rough riding, other trains that do not look right etc.
14. To be able to be patient with passengers who ask you at a large terminus when and what the platform the next train is to say London when it is clearly displayed on the screen in front of them.
15. To be able to work well with your guard.
16. To be able to maintain their competence and remember the rule book and traction and also routes.
17. To hope their health stays good as bad health could mean no job.
18. To answer questions from enthusiasts about what it's like driving a train to then be told that "I could do what you do as I have BVE".
19. To accept that people think all you do is tress the start button and stop button and that is all there is too it

So, it is an easy high paid job that you do not need any qualifications for than anyone could do. You need to be a certain type of person to be a successful train driver, you need dedication, organisational skills, a level headed attitude, be able to switch from night work to early starts with just a 24 hour break and perform immaculately - I hope this helps you understand the role a little better

 

[jbb]

To accept that people think all you do is tress the start button and stop button and that is all there is too it

Well, I do think that is a large part of the job based on what's been said.
HOWEVER it's clear that the knowledge of when to press those buttons is not a trivial thing, needing knowledge of how the train behaves, what's on the route, day to day conditions, and keeping account of emergency situations and I certainly understand that it not by any means an unskilled or trivial job.

The answers here have given me some understanding of what that knowledge is and I thank you for that. I just wanted to get an understanding of what the driver needs to do in order to know how to control the train. Clearly pressing the physical buttons is the trivial part of the job, it's knowing what is required and I now appreciate more of that.

The same applies to my job as a software developer. You could just as well ask what do I do other than press keys on a keyboard all day. To someone who knows NOTHING about software development it appears that all I do is press keys on a keyboard. Well yes, but obviously 99.99% of the job is knowing which keys to press :P

 

[Silv1983]

I'd say that even the "Go faster" and "Go slower" bits are quite involved, knowing how much to put on or take off given the weight of what you are driving, current track geometry plus that of the track coming up ahead.

They also drink tea and wave to kids that stand on bridges waving down to them.

I often find that it's 'Grandad' who does most the waving - sometimes holding onto their very young grandchilds arm to simulate waving to spare their enthusiam

 

[jbb]

I wasn't trolling or being stupid. Well maybe I was being stupid, but not intentionally, I wanted to get some insight into what train drivers actually do. I admit I'm entirely ignorant of what the job actually involves.

I realized that despite travelling on a train every day I knew very little about the mechanics of actually driving one so wanted to find out more

Perhaps I'd have better asked it as "I know nothing about driving a train at all, what is your day like?" or some such thing.

 

[tony_mac]

There are lots of intelligent people who don't know what a train driver does.

 

[michael769]

Try stopping over 1,000 tonnes at exactly the right spot using metal wheels on metal rails - something that gives you a similar amount of grip to a car on ice, from 125 miles an hour. With a stopping distance measured in miles try working out when to start braking when it will still be several minutes before you even see it.

Now try doing that 100s of times a day everyday for decades without getting it wrong once, and smoothly enough that you passengers can stand up without holding on.

 

[notadriver]

Can I just add : Anyone can make a train go forward. It's stopping the train comfortably, on time and in the right place which takes skill. So I would say route knowledge is the main part of a train drivers job.

One of the main differences in terms of controlling speed is the effect gradients have on a train. In a car you are unlikely to pick up speed descending a motorway gradient while coasting. In a bus or lorry you definitely will pick up speed but the chances of getting caught speeding are tiny despite the tachograph recording speed on these vehicles its evidence alone can't be use to convict the driver of speeding in the UK. Bottom line is if you go a bit faster it doesn't really matter.

On a train downhill gradients are not obvious particularly at night and a driver could easily exceed the speed limit and risk their train driving license as everything is recorded on the 'black box'. For that reason a driver will use their route knowledge to drive the train in such a way using knowledge of gradients to avoid unnecessary use of the brake and drive in the most comfortable and efficient way possible.

Example. Leaving a particular station on my route the limit is 60. The route starts downhill then the gradient rises and drops away again for about 1 mile. After that it climbs steadily again. If I got the train up to 60 I would have to keep applying the brake on the downhill stretch. But if I shut off at 50 the train will pick up and just reach 60 in time for the long uphill section and that is when I reapply power to hold that speed.

 

[jbb]

Ah right that's interesting and makes a lot of sense (the parts about braking well being hard and requiring practice and local knowledge).

I've noticed on my train that sometimes the train stops much more smoothly than other times. At best it's a smooth deceleration that ends in exactly the right place on the platform. Other times there is clearly a lot of adjustment going on.

I'm getting a better idea now of exactly what skills are involved

I imagine that there is a significant difference between an empty train and an overcrowded train in both mass and grip on the tracks which neds taking into account too?

 

[notadriver]

Personally I wouldn't say there is a huge difference between empty and overcrowded (others may disagree). But here's the key thing. There is a difference and that is magnified if not dealt with correctly. Things happen in a far more subtle way on trains and experienced drivers notice these differences where someone less experienced such as a trainee driver would not.

Regarding braking everyone does it differently. Remember you don't want to run in the platform ridiculously slowly at 10 mph and lose time. On the other hand you don't want to come in too fast and overshoot the platform or stop car mark. So the adjustment is how the driver 'feels' their train is doing. Every train brakes differently - and as I said before the differences are often subtle.

 

[Lockwood]

I've noticed on my train that sometimes the train stops much more smoothly than other times. At best it's a smooth deceleration that ends in exactly the right place on the platform. Other times there is clearly a lot of adjustment going on.

Using my time playing Traim Simulator 2013 (which makes me an expert on all things rail related) my passengers would be going to work very battered and bruised.
"Signal! BRAKE! Not stopping enough! Brake MORE! We're half a platform away. Edge up a bit. Too much! Brake! Too much brake. Edge up again. Brakes now!!! Oh great, I'm now in advance of the platform signal."

 

[slick]

Some good posts on here, Schedule managment is also something drivers do sometimes without realising. There are many different stopping patterns and and timings on driver schedules. The timings on longer journeys often have a degree of padding built in beween stations so another skill is driving in such a way that you arrive at the booked stops in a decent margin. Also applying factors such as the time of day (passenger loadings), the rail conditions, earlier delays, a visable train in the distance are some of the factors which I take into consideration on how I drive a schedule. If I have 6 mins built say between tottenham hale and bishops stortford on a stansted express, its off peak on a clear day, Im not going to thrash it. Because ill end up getting there and sitting in the platform or maybe even have to stop at a red as I catch up a cambridge service. With a linespeed of 80 mainly 65-70 is more than adequate to roll in the platfrom and have minute for passengers to alight, and I havent had to stop at any red signals eliminating the risk of a Signal passed at danger. On the flipside if im coming to london in the morning peak and its a bit slippery those extra minutes can be used in your favour to allow the swarms of passengers on and still leave on time, and keep you on time when getting up to speed and slower station approaches eat into the timetable because of wheelslip/spin.

Its nice when you get it right and roll in at xx.5930 for a departure at xx.0000

 

[PaulHarding150]

To answer the question in my opinion being a driver:

1. Completely rearrange your life to fit in with your job
2. Get up in the morning when folks are going to bed.
3. Ensure they are at their depot at their booking on time ...
4. Ensure that they are fit for duty - self management in other words and responsibility on alcohol, sleep, prescribed and off the counter drugs etc.

You mean like a job?

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I press the round button to make the train go, then after a few minutes I press the square button to make the train stop. It's dead easy.

 

[Latecomer]

In addition to the things TDK, Notadriver and Slick have said I would also add that safe dispatch (especially on DOO) is a key skill. People get up to all sorts of strange things (be it after pub closing time or in the peak rush). You are looking in several monitors at the whole length of the train, checking you have interlock, re-checking the signal before you move whilst again checking no one has fallen or got caught on your moving train while 100's of people stand perilously close to the edge of the platform awaiting the next train.

Add to this that your platform may not have a starting signal and you can't see the next signal ahead. What was your last signal aspect? Was it a double yellow or a single yellow? What kind of power are you going to take when your TPWS loops are just around the bend?

You need to instantly recognise keys sounds and info displays. You might have to deal with the vigilance going off while you get a loss of line alarm (they can sound pretty similar) while having to reset the AWS within 3 seconds. God forbid you get a passcom go off at the same time as well. All this amongst various beeps from the radio.

Train drivers are taught not to rush, but you still feel responsible and you have a duty to keep things moving. You have a limited turnaround time but you can't register the radio and you have one DOO camera out. You need to know the correct course of actions according to the rulebook and your company policy. As has been said you are responsible for the safety of hundreds of passengers. You might be on your own with them for 45 minutes with 400 standing passengers in sweltering heat due to points failure. How you communicate with them and what actions you take are absolutely vital. Tempers get frayed and people panic. You could have people using emergency egress handles at any minute. What are your first actions to keep people safe?

Drivers may not experience a certain type of event for years on end, but you need to remember what rules apply at the very instant that it happens. Lots and lots of rules.

You need to adjust and adapt if you are having an "off" day. How many times do you drive a car and find your mind has wandered a little and you are late on the brake? That can happen to a train driver given the hours and the distractions (and sometimes the mundane). How do you "pull yourself back together" when you still have 4 hours left of the job? Every driver gets that scare moment. You realise you've missed your ideal braking point, your mind is suddenly calculating how much brake to apply given you have travelled an extra 150 metres in those 4 seconds. What are the conditions like? Light drizzle on the rails? Add more braking distance and expect some slide, you're preparing for having to throw it into emergency but instead a bit of step 3 and back to 2 then one and the passengers are oblivious as you stop gently at the end of platform stop mark. Off they get without having been thrown around in the least, while you sit there heart racing thinking "sh*t!" to yourself.

 

[GB]

I press the round button to make the train go, then after a few minutes I press the square button to make the train stop. It's dead easy.

Don't forget the X for the horn and the trangle for doors

 

[TDK]

I've noticed on my train that sometimes the train stops much more smoothly than other times. At best it's a smooth deceleration that ends in exactly the right place on the platform. Other times there is clearly a lot of adjustment going on.

This could be down to many factors - it may be the first stop that driver has done in that unit on that day, it could be weather conditions, it could be a driver with an instructor, it could be a driver who has just passed their final assessments & it could even be a DM getting in their mandatory monthly required hours. It could also be a driver who has picked up some bad habits etc. Every driver of any vehicle will drive it different be it car, train, HGV, Bus or even a tractor. I think the best response to describe how a driver thinks is from notadriver regarding the shutting off the power on a down gradient short of the line speed.

 

[Rugd1022]

So far most of the answers have come from the passenger driver's perspective, from a freight driver's point of view it can be very different - for instance, most of the stone trains I work are at least 1,800 tons trailing weight, with one regular job being 2,400 tons and the heaviest (the High Output Ballast Cleaner) being 3,300 tons. Factor this in and you can imagine the varying braking distances I need to know day in, day out. I have to doff my cap to all the passenger folk on here though who although drive generally lighter machinery, know instinctively where to brake for their numerous station stops etc, it's a fine art demanding a lot of skill.

Gradients have been mentioned and these play a large part in my overall route knowledge when it comes to thinking ahead, especially if I'm running late (or even early). Loaded and empty wagons feel very different in their handling too, you'd think that an empty train is the easier of the two to handle but this can be affected by high winds causing turbulence in high sided box wagons... twenty of these shuffling along at 60mph can create some very strange aerodynamics which you have to have in mind when braking for certain situations.

As has been said, route knowledge is the key to it all whether you're a passenger or freight driver. Imagine commuting to work over several different motorways, A roads and B roads and having to know every physical aspect of those routes off by heart, in daylight, at night, in thick fog, falling snow, low Winter sun etc, then sign a legally binding document to say that you are familiar with it all and have assesements along the way - that's what route knowledge is all about. We have to know exactly where all the signals are on a given route, who controls them, what they mean, where they can take you, where they can't, all possible combinations of moves between them etc.

Throw in the rules and regs we have to learn (and be tested on at regular intervals) and you can see there is more to the job than meets the eye. Most people only see us sitting in our cabs pressing buttons or pulling levers, but there is far, far more to it than that....!

 

[theboywho]

What differences are there between what is expected from a bus (or coach) driver and a train driver?

 

[scotraildriver]

Having done both there are zero comparable skills between bus and train driving apart from good awareness and hazard perception and similar shift patterns. Anyone wanting to know what knowledge a train driver requires just has to google "railway rule book" and start reading a few modules. I guarantee you will be totally bamboozled. Try starting with the "signals" module..........

 

[Railsigns]

Having done both there are zero comparable skills between bus and train driving apart from good awareness and hazard perception and similar shirt patterns.

 

[michael769]

Wearing shirt patterns is easy and anyone can do it.

How can they justify paying train drivers so much money to wear shirt patterns?

I think we shold be told!

 

[Railsigns]

Wearing shirt patterns is easy and anyone can do it.

How can they justify paying train drivers so much money to wear shirt patterns?

I think we shold be told!

Since the ScotRail franchise is run by a bus company, it's no wonder the uniforms are similar.

 

[6Gman]

Don't forget the X for the horn and the trangle for doors

Now it's getting complicated!

FOUR BUTTONS !!

 

[scotraildriver]

Since the ScotRail franchise is run by a bus company, it's no wonder the uniforms are similar.

You are right - I still wear my bus uniforms driving trains............