View source for Train driver

{{Short description|Operator of a railway train}}
{{Redirect|Railroad engineer|people who design railway infrastructure|Railway engineering}}
[[File:DSB train driver in 1987.jpg|thumb|[[Danish State Railways|DSB]] train driver in 1987]]
[[File:Czech locomotive driver.jpg|thumb|[[Czech Railways|Czech]] [[steam locomotive]] driver]]
[[File:Outback train 3 E.jpg|thumb|The cab of a [[New South Wales Xplorer]] [[diesel multiple unit]]]]
[[File:Führerstand 411.jpg|thumb|Inside the train driver's cab of a German [[Intercity-Express|ICE]] train]]
[[File:Women railroad hostlers, Eng. (i.e. England) LOC 24143749042.jpg|thumb|upright|Women railway shunters, England, c. 1915–1920]]

A '''train driver''', '''engine driver''', '''engineman''' or '''locomotive driver''', commonly known as an '''engineer''' or '''railroad engineer''' <ref>{{cite web |title=What Does a Railroad Engineer Do  |url=https://learn.org/articles/What_Does_a_Railroad_Engineer_Do.html |website=learn.org |access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> in the United States and Canada, and also as a '''locomotive handler''', '''locomotive operator''', '''train operator''', or '''motorman''', is a person who drives a [[train]], [[multiple unit]] or a [[locomotive]]. The driver is in charge of, and is responsible for the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all of the train handling (also known as brake handling). In American English, a '''hostler''' ('''also known as a switcher''') moves engines around [[rail yard]]s, but does not take them out on the normal tracks; the British English equivalent is a '''shunter'''.

Train drivers must follow certain guidelines for driving a train safely.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McLeod |first1=Ronald W. |last2=Moray |first2=Neville |last3=Walker |first3=Guy H. |title=Analysing and modelling train driver performance |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687005000931?casa_token=_cyNA5M4wgsAAAAA:NuiZ8RVgMWBwxmk66zMY5aoIFzHqp_wYrYpgLZP6NZCVSgIQWOlxtteRLOLYi8-lphtjCCAiSIA |journal=Applied Ergonomics |year=2005 |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=671–680 |doi=10.1016/j.apergo.2005.05.006 |pmid=16095554 |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref> For instance, in general, train drivers are encouraged to favour longer stopping distances as this promotes vehicle health, safety, and passenger comfort.<ref group=Note name=Note01/>

== Career progression ==
For many American railroads, the following career progression is typical: assistant conductor ([[brakeman]]), [[train conductor]], and finally the engineer. For many years the fireman was next in line to be an engineer, but that classification has been eliminated. In the US, engineers are required to be certified and must then be re-certified every two to three years.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/49cfr240_03.html| title=2003 CFR Title 49, Volume 4; Part 240: Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers| publisher=United States National Archives and Records Administration| work=Code of Federal Regulations| access-date=2007-11-14}}</ref>

The traditional career progression in the United Kingdom (for steam locomotives) was engine cleaner, passed engine cleaner (i.e. the employee has passed the assessment for fireman), fireman, passed fireman (i.e. passed assessment for driver), and driver.

In India, a driver starts as a diesel assistant (or electrical assistant for electric locomotives). They then get promoted on a scale: goods, passenger, mail express, and the [[Rajdhani Express|Rajdhani]], [[Shatabdi Express|Shatabdi]], and [[Duronto Express|Duronto]] express services.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-ops.html#crew |title=Railway Operations – I |at=Train Crew |website=IRFCA.org |publisher=Indian Railways Fan Club |date=2010 |access-date=2021-08-05 }}</ref>

The United Kingdom based transport historian [[Christian Wolmar]] stated in October 2013 that train operators employed by the [[Rio Tinto Group]] to transport iron ore across the Australian [[outback]] were likely to be the highest-paid members of the occupation in the world at that time.<ref>{{cite news |first=Elisabeth |last=Behrmann |date=3 October 2013 |title=Rio Replacing Train Drivers Paid Like U.S. Surgeons |newspaper=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-02/rio-replacing-train-drivers-paid-like-u-s-surgeons.html |access-date=3 October 2013 }}</ref>

== Notable train drivers ==
<!-- Only list drivers who are notable enough to have their own article per [[WP:N]]. -->
* [[Ben Chifley]], former Prime Minister of Australia<ref>{{cite book|last1=Waterson|first1=D.B.|title=Chifley, Joseph Benedict (Ben) (1885–1951)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chifley-joseph-benedict-ben-9738|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=2015-09-06}}</ref>
* [[Christine Gonzalez]], first female driver for a [[Railroad classes|Class 1 railroad]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2017/03/14/us-first-woman-train-engineer-speaks-las-cruces/99192054/|title=US' First Woman Train Engineer Speaks in Las Cruces|last=López|first=Carlos Andres|date=14 March 2017|website=Las Cruces Sun-News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327235142/https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2017/03/14/us-first-woman-train-engineer-speaks-las-cruces/99192054/|archive-date=27 March 2019|access-date=2019-03-29}}</ref>
* [[Casey Jones]], American engineer whose wreck on the [[Illinois Central Railroad]] on April 30, 1900 was immortalized in verse and music.

== See also ==
* [[Conductor (rail)|Conductor]]
* [[Fireman (steam engine)|Fireman]]
* [[Motorman (locomotive)|Motorman]]
* [[Secondman]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>Exceptions to this include when the train is travelling at speeds slower than 100 km/h (or 60 mph) or when the train is running behind schedule.</ref>
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Huibregtse |first=Jon R. |title=American Railroad Labor and the Genesis of the New Deal, 1919–1935 |publisher=University Press of Florida |date=2010}}
* {{Cite book |last=Licht |first=Walter |title=Working for the Railroad: The Organization of Work in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/workingforrailro0000lich |url-access=registration |date=1983|isbn=9780691047003 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Orr |first=John W. |title=Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904–1949 |date=2001}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Tuck |first=Joseph Hugh |title=Canadian Railways and the International Brotherhoods: Labour Organizations in the Railway Running Trades in Canada, 1865–1914 |publisher=Dissertation Abstracts International |date=1977 |volume=37 |issue=10 |page=6681}}

The following examine the role of the railroad engineer from 1890 to 1919, discussing qualifications for becoming an engineer and typical experiences on the job:
* {{Cite journal |last=White |first=John H. Jr. |author-link=John H. White Jr. |title=Oh, To Be a Locomotive Engineer, Part 1: Once It Was Every Boy's Ambition |journal=[[Railroad History]] |volume=189 |date=Fall–Winter 2003 |issue=189 |pages=12–33 |jstor=43504848}}
* {{Cite journal |last=White |first=John H. Jr. |title=Oh, To Be a Locomotive Engineer, Part 2: More About the Lives of Eagle-Eyes Famous, Infamous, and Forgotten |journal=Railroad History |volume=190 |date=Spring–Summer 2004 |pages=56–77 |jstor=43524273}}
Wilson David C Forward! The Revolution in the Lives of the Footplatemen 1962–1996 Published by Suttons ISBN 0-7509-1144-1

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Railroad engineers}}
* [http://www.traindriver.org/ TrainDriver.org] – A detailed explanation of what train driving involves, and becoming a train driver in the UK

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Train drivers| ]]
[[Category:Railway occupations|Driver]]