With regular scheduled train services meaning a planned timetable, passenger Train Drivers work reasonably predictable shift patterns. On average, most operators work to a 35 hour week. Although some work more. A 35 hour week which is generally averaged out over the whole year, shift cycle or similar. For example week 1 = 32 hours, week 2 = 39 hours and week 3 = 34 hours creating a 35 hour average. 

Shifts or "turns" generally range from around 6 hours to around 11 hours and vary from company to company. 

Some companies operate their turns over a 4 day working week. Days where you are not required for duty are called rest days (RD). Some operators have a fixed pattern of rest days and some do not.  

Working includes weekend and bank holidays and may/may not include Sunday as a normal working day. 

Shift patterns include very early starts and very late finishes - generally a week of early turns followed by a week of late turns. 

Some turns are flexible and can be moved earlier or later depending on requirements - for example you may be allocated a "spare" turn of 0600 (6am) but due to another driver booking sick their service now needs to be covered. Your turn may be moved a number of hours earlier or later to accommodate. Most operators have a number of these spare turns per in their shift pattern. Some have whole weeks where drivers are considered spare. 

Many operators will also require you to work an extra hour after your turn to enable you to attend incident interview or fill in report forms.

The amount of hours you can work in any shift is 12 although the average is around 10. A driving turn of around 10 hours, may only include as few as 5 hours actual driving. This is to ensure break times, train schedules and staffing requirements are maintained. Everything is carefully planned to the minute. 

You can work 72 hours in any one week period. You are also able to work 13 consecutive days in any 14 day period. There must also be 12 hours between the end of your turn and the start of your next.  Working on your rest days is often paid at considerable overtime rate. Overtime working is often allowed under agreements with recognised Trade Unions. 

Freight drivers will generally work many more hours. There is also a greater frequency of night work. Those freight depots which carry out engineering work for Network Rail also have a high amount of weekend working, a lot of which is at night. Some InterCity and most freight operators require some overnight lodging. You may have to stay in a hotel away from home between shifts. This is generally kept to a minimum because of cost implications.

Overtime - if allowed within your company (can change from time to time). Working on your days off must also not exceed the working hours as described above. This type of working is voluntary. If you decide to work on one of your Rest Days (RD) or Off Days it is often paid as a multiple of your normal hourly rate or as a fixed amount. Working on Christmas Day or Boxing Day (if available) can attract 3x your hourly rate!

As an Apprentice or Trainee Driver you are likely to start on a training salary of around £20,000 - £25,000 or higher.

This will increase in line with various factors. There may be an increase upon the anniversary of date of employment or as a result of reaching certain milestones. These milestones could be the number of, or percentage of, routes and train types you are able to drive. 

There may be more than one stepped increment to your salary progression. For example you could see year 1 salary of £23,000, year 2 salary of £36,000, year 3 salary of £48,000 and year 4 salary of £55,000. This is for illustrative purposes only. Some companies only have two progressions - training salary and qualified salary.

Averaged out over all Train Operating Companies the average salary for a fully qualified Train Driver is £57,137. This is not inclusive of any overtime earnings or Sunday work - both of which would be paid overtime (some TOC's have Sunday as part of a normal working week so wouldn't attract overtime). 

Typically, the Train Driver grade has seen above inflation pay increases year on year. These are obviously tied in to many factors such as revenue generation and passenger numbers. It is not unusual to see 2% - 4% increases every year. Sometimes these increases come as multi year pay deals. An example may be 6% over 2 years. Pay rises may also occur if productivity deals can be reached. This would involve trading certain terms and/or conditions in return for a pay increase.

In general, Train Drivers are members of the Railways Pension Scheme (RPMI). It is also generally the case that salary figures are calculated using favourable Defined Benefit (DB) scheme rules. This sort of scheme works out your pension using your final salary and number of years in the scheme. Generally, the maximum years you could pay into the Railway Pension Scheme is 40. Normal retirement age is considered to be 62. You can often retire early (age 55) but will forfeit a proportionate percentage of your pension as a result. Pensions are taken as a combination of lump sum and yearly pension. You can also often trade in each £ of lump sum to purchase additional £ of yearly pension and visa versa. 

In addition to your pension you will also have to opportunity to voluntarily pay into Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVS's). These are used to buy units in various pension managed funds and are affected by market forces. These benefits are collected upon retirement in the form of a lump sum. Traditionally, AVS contributions have returned favourable returns for their investors. 

Some operators offer private pensions that are generally not as generous as final salary or defined benefit schemes. 

Leave usually consists of a number of weeks that are dictated to you. It is normal to be allocated a week leave in the first 3rd of the year, 2 weeks summer leave, and a further week in the last 3rd. You would also usually receive lieu days or individual days. These can be applied for at any time but are generally only approved if there are under a certain number of drivers already on leave that day. 

An example leave arrangement may be 24 days. 16 days are allocated for your pre-rostered annual leave as detailed above (assuming a 4 day week). This would leave you with 8 lieu days to be taken at any time. This equates to 2 weeks. It is often possible to swap leave with other drivers. For example, a driver who has a young family may want leave in the school summer holiday, where a driver with an older family may not. 

It is usual for Train Drivers to have Christmas and Boxing Day off work. All other bank holidays are considered part of the working week. However, the public and industry would like to be a 365 day railway in the future.

Most TOC's offer free standard travel on their own services for you and your family. It is also usual for you to be able to book heavily reduced fares on other TOC's. This is currently 75% off. 

Many operators have free reciprocal travel arrangements with other operators. 

After 12 months service you may also be able to take advantage of free European rail travel. 

Access to company health services such as physiotherapy or mental health support is also common.