Arriva Cross Country drivers are on 52K for a 35 hour, 4 day week.
Pfft, you wouldn’t catch me driving one for that money on those hours 
Winseer:
I’ve often wondered what the “crisis management” thing to do for a train driver is when the following situations occur:(3) You break down, and it’s a friday night last run you’re on…
Same as a truck really, are you going to just dump the truck on the hard shoulder of the M1 at Northampton and walk back to London, or are you going to swear to every deity you know, ■■■■ it up and see the job out.
NewLad:
Arriva Cross Country drivers are on 52K for a 35 hour, 4 day week.
Pfft, you wouldn’t catch me driving one for that money on those hours
yeah, bloody peanuts eh! Oh and not forgetting the free travel for you and your spouse!
chester:
1 Strategy & Consultancy £60,753
2 Banking £49,974
3 Accountancy (Qualified) £48,754
4 Recruitment Consultancy £47,464
5 Financial Services £44,911
6 TNUK CSI agent/operative (Qualified) £43,925
Yes, but that doesn’t include the tax-free meal allowance and solved case bonus.
Contraflow:
chester:
1 Strategy & Consultancy £60,753
2 Banking £49,974
3 Accountancy (Qualified) £48,754
4 Recruitment Consultancy £47,464
5 Financial Services £44,911
6 TNUK CSI agent/operative (Qualified) £43,925Yes, but that doesn’t include the tax-free meal allowance and solved case bonus.
Very good, did not see that in there, oooops on observation skills
I think the reason the railway pays well is the responsibility people have. It can go wrong very quickly and there are a lot of procedures to learn…
Good luck to them for being on 45,550 a year good trade unions and they all stick together.
I think train drivers deserve every penny they get, how they manage to balance a great big long train like that on those skinny little rails is awesome, even more so when they have to steer it round a corner. 
same old sticking together malarky !! can someone fully explain how this would work?
my opinion rightly or wrongly, on why train drivers are paid what they are is down to the the train companies investing thousands into each drivers training, the length of time it takes and you can’t rock up at your local friendly train driver school to get your ticket. i’m not saying i think the unions haven’t done anything. comparing trains and trucks is pretty pointless as far as i’m concerned
Are freight train drivers paid more than passenger train drivers.Both have no inter action with the public.?
I’ve wanted be train driver but there strict on colour blind test, which I have no problem with colours but can’t pass test 
What’s the upper age limit for entry? 
Id love to to but am colour blind 
Winseer:
What’s the upper age limit for entry?
General ball park figure, about 45 for a trainee. Problem is though, the TOC’s rarely take on joe’s straight off the street. 99% of the time they want fully qualified. Saves them having to pay out about 80 grand to train one up for 12-18 months and with a bit of route refresh and/or knowledge, they can get straight in at the deep end.
gazza1970:
I gave up driving trucks 10 yrs ago to take a job driving trains, my basic is £56000 for 35hrs a wk .
■■■■■■■ hell mate, if I’d given up driving a truck ten years ago and had earned half-a-million quid since then, there’s no way I’d be so bored that I felt the need to post to a hairy-arsed truckers’ internet forum!
paul_r:
I quit the truck industry last year and made the move to driving trains. This is something that has been in my head since being a teenager. Starting September was the end of almost 21 months of trying to get into the industry.Take it how you desire but my trainer over the last 3 months has said, we don’t earn the money for the easy days when life is peachy, we earn the money when the brown smelly stuff hits the fan. Do you want someone at the front end who can’t deal with a situation or do you want someone that does the right thing and gets a job done. This was exactly my type of attitude where I worked before except now it will be a vehicle with maybe 1000 people on board.
As I sit here right now, I have at least another 6 to 9 months of training to go. My brain feels like I reached saturation point with everything I have to learn and the rules I have to remember. 15 reasons for this, 10 reasons somewhere else, another 10 reasons for the other thing, 40 stations to learn every single stopping point for whatever combo today I am driving, speeds at every location I am at, speeds at every single crossover point. There is more to that list but that will do for now.
I am so grateful for where I am right now, and everything I done in life and career has brought to this point. It is an amazing opportunity to be here now but damm this I think is actually the hardest thing I have ever done.
Would I ever driver a truck again? If I had to , bills need to be paid and that is why I work hard at the best job I can do. Would I rather be an airline pilot? Damm straight I would !!!
P.S. If you get ‘offered’ a route that you are not allowed to take then expect a chat with management with no tea or biscuits, not quite lost but railway equilvalent
This is spot on the training is unreal,I mean I used to work with a driver who thought truckers were the best trained most skilled people in the world,we’ll I got my licence in a week so it’s no where near as hard…
I looked in to going for the trains but my head wouldn’t stand the training…
Harry Monk:
gazza1970:
I gave up driving trucks 10 yrs ago to take a job driving trains, my basic is £56000 for 35hrs a wk .[zb] hell mate, if I’d given up driving a truck ten years ago and had earned half-a-million quid since then, there’s no way I’d be so bored that I felt the need to post to a hairy-arsed truckers’ internet forum!
Hmm, whats that smell??
These are currently the highest payers at 55K-
If your fully qualified and live near Crewe or Carlisle, your in luck!
directrailservices.com/
A site with some info- traindriver.org/train-operat … -jobs.html
Also, some training info and what it entails from the ‘First Great western’ site- traindriverjobs.firstgreatweste … /training/
I also recommend http://railforums.co.uk/
Been a great source of information for me
Some jobs last year were only advertised a couple of days before being removed due to the number of applicants
Terry T:
I wonder if they all wish they were driving steam trains like in the old days too.
Up Shap?