Hopes lowering minimum train driver age will fill potential retirement void

The government is hoping that reducing the minimum age for train driver applications to 18 will help fill a potential void caused by a retirement.

Around 30% of the UK’s 27,000 drivers reach retirement age by 2029. The average age is currently 48.

The government announced on May 7 that after industry consultation, it was lowering the minimum age for train drivers from 20 to 18. At present it’s thought the industry misses out on a large number of potential drivers who leave college and begin other careers that welcome applications from 18-year-olds.

The government hopes that by appealing directly to teenagers in school and college, more will be interested in moving into the industry immediately after leaving further education and stay for the long run once they understand benefits such as pension and relocation without having to change profession.

“Most people have never really understood how you become a driver,” Rail Minister Lord Hendy said.

“If you get them in at 18 there’s an increase chance of them staying. We ought to be able to attract people and describe it as a career choice.

“We’ve got to explain the benefits in working for the railway in a way we haven’t done before.”

Government data says that fewer than 9% of drivers are female, and less than 12% are from ethnic minorities, something the move could also address.

“One of the advantages of talking to people in schools and colleges, you are much more likely to be talking to a diverse audience to start with,” Hendy added.

“I’m delighted we’ve got some female drivers who show it’s a job that can be done so we can increase the diversity of the workforce.”

Thousands of jobs and apprenticeships are expected to be available to those aged between 18 and 20 as early as December.

It’s also hoped that recruiting new drivers can ease the reliance on rest day working. Numerous operators, most notably Northern and Great Western Railway, have had well-documented issues with staffing Sunday services in particular due to the reliance on staff working rest days to cover them.

Ministers are also asking train operating companies to provide data on the number of drivers they are recruiting in the current financial year to ensure they are doing everything they can to increase numbers.

The move was welcomed by the train drivers’ union, ASLEF.

Its General Secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “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 people from ethnic minority backgrounds, more LGBT+ people, and more women – as well as more young people – to drive trains on Britain’s railways.

“Because, 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.”

Other countries already that have already adopted the lower age limit include France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Japan is also considering a change in law.

Transport for London opened its London Underground train driver scheme to 18-year-olds in 2007.