The minimum age for train drivers is to be lowered to 18, as the government and rail operators seek to avoid staff shortages prompted by a looming retirement crisis.
On the right track: most rail operators recruit drivers from the age of 21. Unions have welcomed the move to lower the entry age for train drivers
According to official data, 87% of rail service cancellations in March this year were as a result of staff shortages.
And according to the National Skills Academy for Rail’s projections, the average age of a train driver is 48; almost half of the industry’s drivers are over 50 while just 3% are under 30. It is projected that almost one-third of rail drivers will reach retirement age by 2029.
“Getting young people in work and improving rail services will help boost the economy as part of the Plan for Change,” the Department for Transport said this morning.
The age change will open up work and apprenticeship opportunities three years sooner than is currently allowed, putting “more school and college leavers on track to step straight into work”.
Thousands of jobs and apprenticeships will be made available as early as December, “offering skilled roles, valuable experience and long-term career opportunities while keeping our country moving”, the DfT said.
The government claims that the decision to lower the entry age will “future-proof the railways”, reducing the overreliance on rest day working by staff.
“In a profession that is less than 9% female and less than 12% represented by ethnic minorities, this will open professional opportunities to a much wider group of people,” the government claimed.
Union support: ASLEF’S Mick Whelan has backed the changed age limit for train drivers
“We’re taking bold action to improve train services and unlock thousands of jobs,” said Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
“We’re committed to getting the economy moving and a big part of that is getting young people into the workforce, putting them on track for a skilled and fulfilling career which will boost growth across the country and help deliver our Plan for Change.
“We’re future-proofing our railways against delays and cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers, ensuring that we can provide reliable, passenger-focused train journeys under Great British Railways for decades to come.”
The move has the support of train drivers’ union ASLEF.
Their general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “ASLEF has been campaigning for many years for the lowering of the age at which drivers can start training.
“At the moment, young people who want to become train drivers leave school or college at 18, get other jobs, and we miss out as an industry as they don’t wait around until they turn 20 to find a career.
“This decision – to allow people to leave school, or college, and join the railway in the driving grade at 18 rather than wait until they’re 20 – will increase diversity in the driver’s cab by encouraging more BAME people, more LGBT+ people, and more women – as well as more young people – to drive trains on Britain’s railways.”
Transport for London successfully opened up its train driver apprenticeships to 18-year-olds on the Underground network in 2007.
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This is an interesting development. You have to be 21 to ride an unrestricted motorcycle and then only after a series of tests and experience. However this change makes the minimum age close to that for cars when in theory you can drive any car providing you pass your test at just 17. A quick check of the requirements for trams shows varying ages (18-21) on the internet but it seems that you also need a car licence.
It seems unlikely that the rail operators will be letting teenagers loose on the network untrained with great big L plates front and back of their engines. Under current rules, the youngest drivers can be 20, but they don’t start full-time working as drivers until they are 21. What appears to be the intention is just bringing that process forward by two years.
And as the union boss points out, people leaving school at 18 are unlikely to be twiddling their thumbs for two years waiting for their chance to become a train driver. This change means many potential candidates won’t be lost to other trades and professions.