My first job there was as a driver, taking trains between Bletchley, Birmingham, London and Bedford. I am also an acting inspector, which means assessing trainee drivers. I also have to interview drivers if there has been an incident. I cover a manager's job, as and when needed. You can now join the railways as a driver.
Trainees come in and do a three week induction course, and have personal track safety training.
They also learn the basic rules and regulations of the railway. After that they go forward for six weeks of front end experience, riding with a driver-instructor. During this, they get a logbook to write up the signalling and track-side boards and features they have seen. Then, if we feel they are ready, they learn the rules and regulations drivers need to know, and they are assessed on that. As long as they are successful, they go to traction, which is learning about the type of train they will be driving.