STRIKING train drivers set to cause fresh misery for passengers in the run-up to Christmas are able to earn £100,000, according to a rail staff website.
The claim will infuriate shoppers and party-goers over the festive season as they grapple with the 15th walkout by hard-Left union Aslef in 16 months.
Train drivers are planning a walkout across the country in the run-up to Christmas
Union chief Mick Whelan says train drivers deserve a ‘significant pay rise’PA
Fully qualified drivers can earn at least £65,000 for a typical four-day week, plus lucrative overtime payments.
Calling the walkouts, Aslef said members were looking for “the pay rise they deserve”.
On the RailUk Forums website, one user claimed: “£100k as a train driver is easily doable, if you want to work that hard, of course . . . ”
And another calling themselves Paddy O’Doors wrote in September 2019: “Stress? What stress? Train driving certainly beats working for a living. I’ve never had more time off, or worked fewer hours per week in all my working life.”
In the same month, fellow user TheVicLine added: “There is very little stress other than concentration required to drive for a few hours if you can manage the work.”
And ST agreed that October, writing on the forum: “The only stress is making sure you turn up in time.”
Meanwhile, one named Avilo boasted: “It’s very laid back, I’m paid to look out of a window. When I step off I’m done and I don’t take anything home with me.”
Conservative MP Philip Davies said: “By anyone’s standards, train drivers are exceptionally well paid and it seems that even they know it.
‘Held to ransom’
“So it is clear that these strikes are political in nature and so that well paid drivers can have some extra weekends off work to go and watch the football. Aslef and its members should be ashamed.
“The sooner the Government and train operating companies develop driverless trains the better, so we can no longer be held to ransom by these overpaid, workshy, politically motivated agitators.
“It is essential the Government and the train companies do not offer a penny more to these greedy drivers.”
Aslef has announced that 16 rail companies will be striking for 24 hours on dates between December 2 and 8.
They will also refuse to work overtime between December 1 and 9.
According to Reed Recruitment, train driver salaries can rise to in excess of £65,000 across the UK.
In Scotland, they start at £38,194 for newly qualified drivers, rising to £48,360 after a probation period.
Covid led to the biggest decline in rail trips since records began and, while passenger numbers have increased for some journeys and at certain times, they are still significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
The National Travel Survey 2022 found the average number of trips per person taken by surface rail for business was 48 per cent lower last year than in 2019, and for commuting it was down 42 per cent.
Industrial action has cost the rail industry £716million since the feud between unions and operators began, according to the Rail Delivery Group — who also say that taxpayers are still supporting rail with up to an extra £175million a month to make up the 30 per cent shortfall in revenue post Covid.
Conor Holohan, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told The Sun on Sunday: “Train drivers are biting the hands that feed them. Taxpayers have given billions to keep the system’s finances on track, yet are now facing endless disruption.”
Xmas dates strikes will hit your service
EMR and LNER – December 2
Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink and WMT – December 3
C2C and Greater Anglia – December 5
Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, the SWR main line and depot, Island Line – December 6
CrossCountry and GWR – December 7
Northern and TPT – December 8
Becky Richards, a senior carer at a retirement home in Thorngumbald, East Yorks, slammed the rail workers who earn three times what she does.
The mum of four gets an hourly rate of £11.25 and receives a weekly post-tax pay packet of £375. Her husband James, 38, is an electrician who supports the couple’s children, aged nine to 15.
Becky said: “We see death every week, we’re dealing with trauma every day.
“We hold hands as people take their last breath and lay them out so families can say goodbye.
“We work 12-hour shifts, all year round — at Christmas and over New Year. I look at these striking drivers and think, ‘Spend a day in my shoes’. They’d never moan about money again.
“They wouldn’t cope doing my job. I endure a hell of a lot more pain and stress than my pay packet suggests. But I can’t just down tools when I want as people depend on me. It’s a joke they’re going on strike.
“They’re already very well paid. You’d think they’d look around at what other working people are having to endure and realise, ‘Hang on, we’ve got it pretty good’.”
NHS nurse Naomi Gordon, 37, has worked for eight years to progress to a Band 6 nurse, with pay starting at £35,392.
That is HALF what an Avanti driver might get, with the rail firm stating on its own website “you could reach a salary of circa £70,000 within just a few years”.
The single mum — who was forced to use food banks to feed herself and son Tom, 17, during the pandemic — takes home little more than £500 a week after tax.
Naomi, from Cardiff, said: “I don’t begrudge anyone a decent wage but it makes you think, ‘I should have been a train driver’.
“If I was on their salary I’d be happy, not pressing for more. Many nurses are working two jobs to bridge the cost-of-living crisis and a lot are leaving for the private sector.
“I’m scraping by — the responsibility isn’t worth the pay packet.
“If I had known when I started what I know now, I would have chosen a different profession.”
Naomi revealed she was recently encouraged by a patient to apply for a job with Transport for Wales.
She said: “She told me how I didn’t need any qualifications and that they would train me on the job. I was considering it. It’s a lot more money and far less stress.”
Announcing the rail strikes, Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “We are determined to win this dispute and get a significant pay rise for train drivers, who have not had an increase since 2019 while the cost of living has soared.”
Drivers argue on the RailUk Forums site that their high pay is justified by a need to maintain concentration plus the risks they face from suicide on the tracks. There were 247 deaths in 2020/21.
One driver, Andy Hall, 47, developed post-traumatic stress when a person threw themselves in front of his train in June 2021.
Afterwards the dad of two, from Blackpool — who had to take 12 weeks’ leave from his Northern Trains job — said: “I don’t think people realise how often it happens.
“The suicide rate is appalling. It never really gets talked about but it has a big knock-on effect.”
On behalf of all train operators hit by walkouts, the Rail Delivery Group said: “The fair and affordable offer made by industry, which would take average driver base salaries for a four-day week from £60,000 to nearly £65,000, remains on the table.”
Andy Hall had to be signed off after a person committed suicide by jumping in front of his trainsupplied
Train drivers
SALARY (from starter to experienced): £24,000-£70,000+.
TYPICAL HOURS: 35-40 a week.
SHIFTS: Often work weekends, nights and bank holidays.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: GCSEs grades 9 to 4 (A* to C). Psychometric tests.
TRAINING: Up to 24 months.
PROS: Most drivers work four days a week. Generous pension. Free travel.
CONS: Shift patterns. Risk of rail suicides and other track fatalities.
How their pay deal compares with others
Nurse
SALARY (Band 5): £28,407 – £40,508.
TYPICAL HOURS: 37.5 per week.
SHIFTS: Could work nights, weekends, bank holidays.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent; 2 or 3 A-levels, including a science, or a Level 3 diploma in health, science or nursing.
PROS: Rewarding work. NHS pension.
CONS: Demanding, pressured and frequently harrowing.
Army officer
SALARY (from starter to experienced): £27,273-£42,009.
TYPICAL HOURS: Vary
SHIFTS: Include weekends, nights, bank holidays. Away from home.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Aged 17- 28, need medical report, security checks, GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English, maths, science and a language plus 2-3 A-Levels.
PROS: Subsidised housing, food. Army pension. Medical care.
CONS: Potential danger. Can’t go on strike.
Secondary school teacher
SALARY (from starter to experienced): £30,000-£46,525.
TYPICAL HOURS: 37-45 a week.
QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED: GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths; a bachelor’s degree in any subject; Qualified Teacher Status or PGCE.
PROS: Rewarding. Long holidays. Pension.
CONS: Workload. Stress. Challenging pupils, difficult parents.
Police constable
SALARY (from starter to experienced): £19,164-£41,130.
TYPICAL HOURS: 37-40 a week.
SHIFTS: Could work nights, weekends, bank holidays.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or A-levels for a degree apprenticeship. Medical, fitness and background checks.
PROS: Can retire at 60. Job stability.
CONS: At times physically, mentally and emotionally demanding.
Fire fighter
SALARY (from starter to experienced): £24,191-£32,244.
TYPICAL HOURS: 41-43 a week.
SHIFTS: Could work nights, weekends, Bank Holidays.
QUALIFICATIONS: GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths.
PROS: Rewarding. Pension. Flexible shifts.
CONS: Dangerous and potentially traumatic.
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