Government on track to lower train driver minimum age to 18 in Great Britain | Rail industry
Labor will introduce legislation in the House of Commons this week to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18; figures show that less than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30 years of age.
The government is pushing ahead with proposals to recruit young people and is lowering the minimum age from the current 20 in a move ministers hope will eliminate a potential shortage of thousands of drivers.
Crew shortages are already a big cause of late-notice cancellations, while the impending mass exodus due to retirement threatens to increase driver shortages and worsen train reliability.
The current average age of the 24,000 train drivers in Great Britain is 48, and around 25% of them will reach retirement age before 2030.
That could mean a shortage of 2,500 drivers within four years, according to a National Academy of Rail Skills report.
While some train drivers continue to drive into their 70s, most retire well past the state retirement age and become eligible for a railway pension at age 62.
In Wales, where life expectancy is the lowest in England, almost two in five train drivers are over 55.
The latest workforce survey, published in Department for Transport assessments last month, showed less than 3% of train drivers in Great Britain were under 30.
Train drivers union Aslef, which has been campaigning for a long time to lower the minimum age, accepts members up to the age of 35 to its youth wing. Aslef said bringing 18-year-old drivers into the cab would not only help the railroad recruit the numbers it needs, but would also increase diversity and better reflect the communities it serves.
Rob Kitley, 31, a GWR driver and chairman of Aslef’s young members’ committee, said it was “great to see the legislation now come into force”.
He said: “As young train drivers we have been campaigning for this change for many years to level the playing field and bring our industry into line with other parts of public transport such as buses and the London Underground.
“By widening the goalposts to allow young candidates to join the driving class, we are opening the door to new talent that might otherwise be lost.”
The government declined to comment ahead of the expected announcement. But discussing the proposals last year, transport minister Heidi Alexander said they would help “future-proof our railways against delays and cancellations caused by driver shortages” and would also stimulate growth “by bringing young people into the workforce and guiding them into skilled and rewarding careers”.
The move to nationalized and integrated British Railways may have facilitated change; Train operators with limited franchises are sometimes reluctant to invest in the training of young drivers, who are seen as more likely to change jobs than middle-age carpenters who are former service personnel.
But Aslef argued that hiring younger drivers would increase diversity and enable more people to join directly from school.
Dave Calfe, the union’s general secretary, said: “Too many young people currently make their career choices at 18 and the industry is missing out on this opportunity. This change will expand the opportunity to recruit the many train drivers the rail industry will need over the next five years.”
Finding a job remains challenging due to competition for places, psychometric testing and 12-18 months of training. Average salaries are around £70,000.
In other parts of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and France, drivers can already start at age 18. Interestingly, young train drivers may soon be allowed to cross both sides of the Channel due to a bilateral agreement between the UK and France, but they may not be allowed to take trains through the tunnel connecting them.
