Student Report
6
STUDENT REPORT
7
Have you ever wondered about joining the railway
industry to make the points above a thing of the past
and to become a part of the expanding business? In
years gone by, the perception may have been that jobs
in the railway industry were for ‘train-spotters’ with few
inter-personal skills, but times have moved on.
I went to visit the offices of a train operating company
and Network Rail. These work places were just like any
other city work place, but more vibrant and fun, as a lot
was happening at once. Let me explain to you how this
industry works; it really involves three parties:
• The Government – it provides the money and the
conditions of what a company can do
• Train operating companies – they run the trains
on behalf of the government on a concession or
franchise basis
• Network Rail – maintains the tracks, signals
infrastructure and stations
Both Network Rail (NR) and a train operating company
(TOC) operate like normal businesses. As well as
requiring train drivers and signallers, they both require
a small army of station staff, human resources (HR),
project managers, engineers, train planners, commercial
managers, procurement managers, public and media
relations, IT technicians, team organisers and librarians.
If you can think of a job, you will probably find one
between NR and TOC.
Two women are making a difference, taking charge of
our railway and shaping its future; Helen Bullock works
for a TOC and Sam Cabrera Diez Sharp for NR.
Helen
is Head of Drivers at MTR
Crossrail. MTR is a Hong Kong-
based organisation which will
operate Crossrail train services on
behalf of Transport for London.
Helen went to a school like
WGGS. She entered the railway industry at graduate
level in 2010 after reading Geography at university.
She took part in a graduate scheme which was run by
First Group, a TOC. After this scheme, she decided that
she wanted to pursue a career in the railway industry.
Before her current role, Helen was a Depot Manager,
where she was responsible for making sure everything
ran smoothly during the day, that every train was in
good condition and that all the safety criteria had
been met. She also managed the driver managers
for a specified region. As head of drivers, Helen will
eventually be responsible for over 400 people when
Crossrail officially opens in 2019. Currently, services
from Liverpool Street to Shenfield are run under the
banner of TFL Rail. Helen’s current role is to ensure that
everything runs smoothly and a driver is trained to the
required standard. In addition to the above, she also
recruits drivers and managers, manages the budget for
the department and leads projects. Sometimes she has
to investigate incidents.
Helen told me, “One of the main positives about my job is
that I get the opportunity to work with so many different
people in other departments that other people in other
jobs may never get to experience. I get to experience
how other people work and I can meet so many people.
My job is challenging but this is why I like it, as one day
is never the same as another. Every day comes with its
own challenges. One of the biggest challenges in my job
is that people are very stuck in their ways so it is difficult
to change anything. People think that nothing can be
changed, but what they don’t realise is that times have
moved on. Things need to be modernised but where I
work everything is modern as the people are young and
enthusiastic.”
A trainee train driver at MTR can expect to earn
£27,000 but after a year, once qualified, their salary
can increase to £41,000 per annum. This salary can be
further increased to £55,000 pa. A general trainee can
expect to earn £25,000 but this increases over time.
Opportunities will always come to increase wages.
Other benefits can include a final salary pension (a
thing of the past in most careers), two free oyster cards
and 75% discounted travel on all other railways, as well
as all the other normal benefits.
Sam
works for NR and she came
through a different route. She
originally joined in a customer service
role and advanced to become a driver
and eventually took up a Monday
to Friday role with NR. Her current
role is Scheme Project Manager, so she is in charge of
making sure that the investment/construction projects
are built fit for purpose, on time and at a reasonable
budget (Network Rail is a private company but funding
comes mostly from the government, so it is tax payers’
money we are spending and we have to be careful).
At the moment Sam is working on the East West Project
am says, “I deal with a lot
of different people. It’s always challenging, the pay
is very reasonable and once you work for the railway
there’s always something you can do. Until last year,
I was working for the Thameslink programme and no
matter where I go, in the future, when passengers get
on one of the new trains through London, I can say at the
end of the day “I helped to build that”. There are tons
of opportunities. Also, I have received lots of training
at work with no cost to myself and I have been able to
get better jobs because of it. The railway is still a male
dominated industry, although NR, for instance, is actively
recruiting women (any budding female engineers or
project managers, please look at the recruiting website!)
and the public always blames us for the delays to their
services but never seems to appreciate the improvements!
But I can appreciate that we all get fed up from time to
time with public transport.”
An entry level job with NR starts around £15,000-
£20,000 pa but engineer apprentices will start making
a lot more very soon after training. Graduate jobs are
around £25,000 pa. If you live in London, you will also
get a London Allowance, which is about £3,000.
Both Helen and Sam have said that in order to join
the railway you need to be: positive, open-minded, a
problem solver, influential, have good communication
skills, be calm under pressure and to be able to think
outside the box, be conscientious and be able to
concentrate for long periods whilst working on your own.
You can learn the technical stuff on the job.
As well as working for TOC and NT there are also
railway governing bodies you could join such as Railway
Safety Standards Board (RSSB) and Officer of Railway
and Road (ORR).
The railway industry also have their own degree/
diploma and NVQ. For more details visit the Institution
of Railway operators:
Whichever career path you may choose, as Helen
Bullock said, “positive thinking, right attitude, hard work
and accepting responsibility is the key for any successful
career.”
If you are deciding what career path to take, you might
like to consider a career in the railway. Why not take a
look at the variety of apprenticeship schemes? You can
save a huge amount in university fees and let someone
else pay for your higher education which is relevant to
your job!
‘We are sorry that your train has been cancelled, we apologise for any inconvenience.
This is due to a shortage of drivers... floods... leaves on the track...’
If you want to work for a TOC, like MTR Crossrail, Virgin, London Overground, check
their website. The website for MTR Crossrail is:
If you want to join Network Rail check out
Women in the
Railway Industry
by Lillian Passmore 8E
