Driving a train? There’s not much to it really...

Great news that teenagers are going to be able to be train drivers! At least, that’s what the government (desperate for a good news story) is presumably hoping for, at the same time encouraging a narrative that train driving is so easy even a child could do it. After all, it’s only pushing a button, isn’t it?

Except... there’s more than one button. Oh, and you have to be sure to press the right button at exactly the right moment, maybe 100 times a day (or night). Oh, and if you press the wrong button, or you don’t press the right button at the right time, people can get hurt. Oh, and you’re the first person who has to deal with any incidents or emergencies – alone if you’re D.O.O. That’s if you’re not incapacitated from being in the crumple zone of the driver’s cab. Apart from that, there’s not much to it really... other than generally controlling the speed of the train, braking safely, in exactly the right place, being on time all the time... etc, etc. We really deserve a pay rise!

There’s no reason why a teenager can’t do all of the above, of course. But not any teenager.... not even many teenagers. The nonsense is that there’s no shortage of applicants as it is. It’s just that most don’t get through the selection/training because they don’t have the necessary abilities or mindset, whatever age they are.

Ultimately, we all know that one of the main reasons for driver shortages is that the TOCs choose not to recruit enough drivers because it’s cheaper to rely on existing drivers working their rest days.

GS Mick Whelan says: ‘We have always believed that the people in the driver’s seat at the pointy end of the train should reflect the communities we serve – which is why we want to see the TOCs and FOCs recruit more women, more LGBT+ drivers, more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and more young drivers. It is ASLEF policy to reduce the main line train driver’s age from 21 to 18 to bring it into line with Tube train drivers and encourage more young people to come into our industry. That’s our policy, made by members at AAD.’

LOCOMOTIVE JOURNAL

AUGUST 2024

NORWOOD BRANCH

On Tuesday 15 October it will be 30 years since the Cowden train crash that took the lives of Norwood drivers Brian Barton and Dave Rees, Selhurst guard Jon Brett-Andrews, and travelling passengers Mr and Mrs Pointer. Norwood branch – both current and retired – gathers every year on the day to pay our respects and remember friends lost on that fateful day. This year we have been busy organising, with the help of Southern, and local residents, a day that will honour them, and build what we hope is a legacy to Cowden so we never forget. In the build-up to October we will be renaming the mess room at Norwood as the Cowden Memorial Room and installing a painting by Norwood driver Kevin george which we hope will prompt new drivers to ask about Cowden.

On 15 October the day will start at Cowden at 10.00 with a service led by the Railway Chaplain, Tony Miller, followed by a wreath laying service, ending with a 30 year memorial unveiling. Should anyone wish to donate to the Cowden legacy fund, which aims to help us remember Cowden year on year, they can do so at pay.sumup.com/b2c/Q0VRIK4J. Those interested in attending on the day or buying a 30-year anniversary badge please get in touch with me at acdriversclub@hotmail.com.

Sam Green 

Norwood Junction branch 147 

and Alan Cranstoun’s Drivers’ Club secretary