Salary of tube and train drivers - why so high?

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[TFU] Thegoon84;30478893 said:
The OP who clearly isn't happy that someone earns more than him for doing what he see's a lesser easy job.
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I don't really see any jealousy in this thread. If you can get the job, good luck to you. What we're discussing is does the 'responsibility' justify the £££. Are they really worth that money or is it skewed by their heavy union representation?
 
I think they're massively overpaid.

There are many professional jobs (O&G, power generation) where pressing the wrong button or opening the wrong valve would result in the death of 500+ or causing major environmental disaster. Essentially, they're tackling the branch and not the root...

Stop people committing suicide on the line and you wouldn't need to pay them money to account for the psychological hazard of the role. That is a bit simplistic, but you get my point.
 
[TFU] Thegoon84;30478893 said:
The OP who clearly isn't happy that someone earns more than him for doing what he see's a lesser easy job.
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Like Basher said it was actually a pretty sensible question from the OP considering this is GD, the only person bringing jealously and random ranting into this is you.
 
EVH said:
I think they're massively overpaid.

There are many professional jobs (O&G, power generation) where pressing the wrong button or opening the wrong valve would result in the death of 500+ or causing major environmental disaster. Essentially, they're tackling the branch and not the root...

Stop people committing suicide on the line and you wouldn't need to pay them money to account for the psychological hazard of the role. That is a bit simplistic, but you get my point.
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Again, train drivers DO NOT get paid for people jumping in front of them.

It's not a loosing battle, the nonsense being peddled here is quite staggering, and actually quite surprising for GD :p.

I work with drivers every day that's why it's so frustrating to see all these comments which have no idea. When I joined the railway the change in safety critical culture was quite a shock. And it is more comparable to the aurlibe industry as the rail industry has borrowed a lot of protocols from it
 
Hawkwind1879 said:
Again, train drivers DO NOT get paid for people jumping in front of them.

It's not a loosing battle, the nonsense being peddled here is quite staggering, and actually quite surprising for GD :p.

I work with drivers every day that's why it's so frustrating to see all these comments which have no idea. When I joined the railway the change in safety critical culture was quite a shock. And it is more comparable to the aurlibe industry as the rail industry has borrowed a lot of protocols from it
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It would be really useful for us to hear some examples about why the job of a tube driver is so complicated. Many industries have complex safety protocols, so it would be interesting to hear about the unique complexities in this scenario.
 
JOSH86 said:
Hawkwind you are fighting a loosing battle here.

No-one in their right mind would compare a Train Driver and a Pilot - the industry might be similar in a such that you both move mass amounts of people around but that is as far as they are comparable.

Oh and the salary.



From what I have seen posted about why Train/Tube drivers get paid so much isn't a great example - they appear to be over paid Uber drivers tbh.
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I said they are more compatable then bus driver. Safety critical comm's, rule book, protocols etc
 
It is a loosing battle as you can't explain why they are paid so much, so the opinions of most of us on this thread won't be changed just because "you work with them".

What has safety protocols got to do with why they are paid so much? Do they need to be able to recite them chapter and verse? Or just know what they are when they need them?

Even then I can't see it being worth the salary, writing the protocols yeah, knowing them? Nope.

Hawkwind1879 said:
I said they are more compatable then bus driver. Safety critical comm's, rule book, protocols etc
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Ah right okay, I still can't see it though I'm sorry. Having driven a fully laden HGV around London at rush hour is much harder than being on rails underground or overground too me.
 
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eatcustard said:
You are all very wrong.

The only reason they have a good wage is a strong union and the ability to paralyses the capital when they strike.
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Exactly this.

Unions might have been a good thing 30/40 years ago, but with a lot of workers rights bought into common law, they're now just a nuisance to the public.

The sooner they're gone, the better.
 
Hawkwind1879 said:
I don't have any experience with the London Underground so can really say about that sorry
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So you're justifying their salaries on the basis of the complexities/risks of their role and the hoops they have to jump through around process, but you don't have any experience to give details on any of that?

Perhaps you could explain for overground drivers?
 
JOSH86 said:
It is a loosing battle as you can't explain why they are paid so much, so the opinions of most of us on this thread won't be changed just because "you work with them".

What has safety protocols got to do with why they are paid so much? Do they need to be able to recite them chapter and verse? Or just know what they are when they need them?

Even then I can't see it being worth the salary, writing the protocols yeah, knowing them? Nope.
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As I said you must be trying hard to be that ignorant :confused:. Yes knowing the rules like the back if their hand and how to apply them in any conditions or method of working whilst in control of trains couple hundred tons on a live railway doing speeds up to 100 with hundreds of passengers. If you don't get then I'm sorry
 
[TFU] Thegoon84;30479017 said:
Yet most top bankers earn 300times that of an employer.... Nobody questions that! just "good for them, they work hard, why not"!.
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Very different roles. Top bankers generate HUGE wealth for their shareholders and customers and are generally paid in line with that (some exceptions, obviously). Being a top banker is a very skilled job - one which few of us could do. Being a tube driver does not require anywhere near that level of skill.
 
Starting salary: £49,673
Annual leave: 43 days
Working hours: 36 hours per week
Requirements: GCSE in Maths and English

I'd be interested to hear how that is justified, if not for the suicide/psychological impact of the role tbh.
 
EVH said:
Starting salary: £49,673
Annual leave: 43 days
Working hours: 36 hours per week
Requirements: GCSE in Maths and English

I'd be interested to hear how that is justified, if not for the suicide/psychological impact of the role tbh.
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Is that for tube?. Depending on company and traction train drivers are around 35k to 50k mainly. More for the high speed and heavy haul guys
 
Basher said:
I think he's suggesting the jobs they had to do before they were Tube Drivers (because you can't apply externally) were underpaid. Not sure there's any truth to this.
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Most customer service employees or any other job in the train\railway industry did not go into that job to become a train driver, a few do maybe.
 
JOSH86 said:
Ah right okay, I still can't see it though I'm sorry. Having driven a fully laden HGV around London at rush hour is much harder than being on rails underground or overground too me.
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I think it's partly down to perception, just because you don't have control on rails does not make it easy. The sheer wait of trains and braking distances, things to remember, it's not easy. And where you really start to earn their money is when something goes wrong.

Do you have experience with train driving? If I was a driver would offer you a cab ride so could see it :) (although sack able offence no doubt)
 
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