On Dec 15, 11:46*am, wrote:
So go on , tell us , whats so hard about driving a train?

Do you have to steer? No.

Nope, not as such, but you have to know where you're going, knowing
your route inside out with all possible diversionary routes and be
able to stop and challenge a wrong routing if it happens. The
signallers make mistakes too!

Do you have to judge other traffic and react accordingly? No.

Yes you do, if you have a train in the section in front of you, you're
going to bloody well stop! You will react differently approaching a
double yellow, single yellow or red signal.

Do you have to watch out for pedestrians? No.

Yes you do, level crossings, trackside workers, station platforms,
depots, yards and sidings

Do you have to change gear? No.

Depending on weather conditions, fog, snow, heavy rain, you will use a
different traction power setting accordingly!

On the tube they don't even have to worry about hitting anything because
it'll just trip if they go past a red signal.

Oh they do have to worry about it, if they did keep doing that they
wouldn't have a job before too long!

It's not a simple case of "sitting on your arse pushing a button",
it's all the other stuff that comes with it, like remembering the
rules and regulations (which are complicated and sometimes confusing,
but has to be learnt). For example knowing the difference between
"Single Line Working" and "Working of a Single Line", also speed
restrictions, if your safety system's isolated (AWS/TPWS) you can only
travel at a maximum speed of 40mph, UNLESS you have a competent person
with you in which case you can travel at 60mph, UNLESS there's fog or
falling snow then you can only travel at 40mph, UNLESS you also have
another system isolated (DSD) in which case blah blah blah....it's not
straightforward at all! Go to http://www.rgsonline.co.uk and browse
the Modules, look for yourself what we have to learn.

There's also the family life aspect, the shift work can make you miss
your loved ones for more than a week, you come home as they're going
to work or vice versa, ending up tired after a week of early starts
(3am), yet trying to mainting 100% concentration for up to 9 and a
half hours after 6 days in a row. When I say 100% concentration I do
mean that, you can NOT switch off at all whilst driving. Anything that
happens on the railway at speed needs to be dealt with ASAP. If you're
trundling along at 90mph and see a cow on the track or a broken rail
or some idiot playing chicken, you have to be on the ball to stop or
minimise any incident as much as possible. It can be boring as well at
times, doing the same route back and forth, however, you still need to
maintain 100% concentration for the above reasons.