Career opportunities and skills needed
Career opportunities
The rail industry is commonly divided into two sub-industries: Rail operations and rail engineering.
Rail operations include Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Open Access Operators (OAO) which operate rail passenger services (using the Network Rail infrastructure i.e. the rails and the signals and the stations). Within Train Operating Companies, the main roles are customer focused including train crew and station staff.
The rail industry usually operates day and night, every day of the week. This means that people in the industry have to be prepared to be flexible and work shifts that might include nights, weekends and bank holidays. As well as the passenger facing jobs that exist on trains and at the railway stations across the country, there is also all the administrative work that goes on to make trains run and get passengers moving, such as ticket sales, marketing and planning.
Skills needed
Most employers in the rail industry will look for employees who show an interest and knowledge in rail. Drivers and train staff need knowledge of routes, whereas engineers need to be able to demonstrate different technical abilities. Some jobs in the industry require qualifications, such as engineering, although apprenticeships and traineeships are also available in some areas. For customer-related roles, such as station assistants and passenger services, previous customer service experience is preferred – this can be gained, as an example, from working in shops, bars or restaurants.
Some roles require applicants to go through a medical check which may include checks for drug and alcohol abuse. Many roles require a sound level of physical fitness and employees can find themselves on their feet for most of the day.