Employment Train Driver

[And_ROOS]

Off topic, but how selfish is suicide via trains? Suicide in itself is horrible, but in effect you are potentially ruining a random persons life along with that of your families.

On topic, i might apply to drive trains too. It sounds like a really good job. Can anyone link me?

 

[Deliverance]

Off-topic, someone once told me it was cheaper to pay out compensation for injuries/deaths on train tracks than to build fences along the network to keep people off. Not sure if true though.

I have seen someone get hit by a train once. It was pretty horrific, but I was only a witness on the side and can't really imagine what it must be like for the driver.

Did anyone find out about current pay and conditions, it does actually sound like a decent job.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

An uncle of mine used to drive trains for the Met, and before that V-line. Did it for about 20 years until someone suicided in front of him. Part of his role was to prevent passengers from seeing the after effects, and after picking up a severed head he didn't drive a train again for years. Rarely spoke for a couple of years either.

Wow, that's terrible for your uncle. You could take all the precautions in the world but if someone jumps in front of the train at the last moment, there isn't much you can do. I guess in some ways, it's pretty noble of the driver to try and spare passengers the effects but geez, that would take a toll on you.

I guess that is one of the potential risks that comes with the job - a definite emotional toll for the driver. I wonder what the turnover of train drivers is because of such incidents?

Off topic, but how selfish is suicide via trains? Suicide in itself is horrible, but in effect you are potentially ruining a random persons life along with that of your families.

On topic, i might apply to drive trains too. It sounds like a really good job. Can anyone link me?

Yeah definitely not wrong there - a friend of mine who studies psychology told me one of the reasons people who suicide in front of trains is apparently because it inevitably will impact a lot of people (commuters get stranded, train driver, police get called in etc) so the 'death' is felt by more people (not just the friends and family of the person but many others as well).

 

[Pluggeroo]

Yeah definitely not wrong there - a friend of mine who studies psychology told me one of the reasons people who suicide in front of trains is apparently because it inevitably will impact a lot of people (commuters get stranded, train driver, police get called in etc) so the 'death' is felt by more people (not just the friends and family of the person but many others as well).

I highly doubt that a suicidal person is thinkning about upsetting the commuters or the driver, or how it will impact other people. A suicidal person is only worried about 1 person and that is themselves. That is why suicide is considered such a selfish act. It is done with a train because of the perception (and a good one, I guess) that it happens quickly and reletively painlessly.

Back on topic, I had the privelege of driving a VLine driver back from Bairnsdale to Traralgon one night and we got to talking about the job and wages and what sections of line he was able to drive on, etc., when the inevitable question came out of my mouth.

I asked whether there had been any fatalities whilst he was driving. He told me 7.

1 in a crossing accident, and a foot crossing (not considered a suicide attempt) and 5 suicides. The first was a suicide and he said as it was his first one, he kept his eyes on the fellow thinking he was going to jump out of the way. They are told in training to turn their head away from the person and pull the brake on.

The jumper looked straight into his eyes. He said this was common of the suicidal person in this situation. He had the mandatory 3 months off with pay, as well as a lot of councelling and returned to his job a little wiser. For the others, he said in most cases he turned his head and chair, pulled the brakes and before the train had come to a stop he was already on the phone to control to get them to organise a replacement crew and the police/firies/ambo's/buses.

It is a very rewarding position but, as other jobs have risks to physical health and safety, this one has a huge risk to your mental health and safety.

 

[And_ROOS]

So. Where do i sign up?

 

[Feraligatr]

So. Where do i sign up?

If you're interested in working for Metro it will be 2015 before the re-hire for trainees because they have a merit list already in place until the end of this year and V-Line only hire internally from what I have read.

Edit: I completely assumed you lived in Victoria, so if you don't, ignore what I just posted and just search the career parts of the train companies in your state to find out.

 

[lenny&carl]

I know the train drivers at my work are on $200k+