Minimum Age To Be A Train Driver Lowered To 18
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Eighteen-year-olds will be allowed to drive trains after the minimum age was lowered from 20 in a bid to tackle driver shortages.
These first three paragraphs add detail.
UK rail services are frequently disrupted due to a lack of drivers being available, and the problem is set to get worse with companies struggling to replace a growing number of people retiring with new recruits, the government said.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced the change as “bold action to improve train services and unlock thousands of jobs”.
Union Aslef said it would open up opportunities for school or college leavers, while the Rail Safety and Standards Board said its research found “18-year-olds are capable of safely becoming train drivers”.
This paragraph from Google AI, says you only have to be sixteen to join the British Army.
The minimum age to join the UK Army as a Regular Soldier is 16. However, you’ll be a Junior Soldier until you turn 18, at which point you can transition to a regular role. To join the Army Reserve, you need to be at least 18. The upper age limit for joining the Army Reserve as a soldier is the day before your 43rd birthday.
A similar age of sixteen, applies to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, with eighteen applying for the Police.
How Does This Compare With Driving A Bus?
This paragraph from Google AI, gives the driving age for a bus.
The minimum age to become a bus driver in the UK is 18 years old. However, to drive a full-sized bus (Category D), you must be 24 years old, unless you are undergoing the Initial Driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) qualification. For Category D1 (minibus), the minimum age is also 18.
Google AI gives this description of Category D1.
PSV (Public Service Vehicle) Class D1 licence, also known as a PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) licence or a minibus licence, allows you to drive a minibus for hire or reward. This licence category applies to minibuses with up to 16 passenger seats and a maximum length of 8 meters, and can tow trailers up to 750kg. To obtain a D1 licence, you need to pass a medical check, a theory test, and a practical driving test.
I suspect that many eighteen-year-olds are capable enough to hold a PCV licence.
What sort of vehicle will someone with a PCV licence be able to drive?
Wrightbus subsidiary ; Rightech has just released a suitable vehicle.
- It is battery-electric powered.
- It can seat up to twelve passengers.
- It is six metres long.
- It has a range of 112 miles.
It has a high-specification, which includes air-conditioning.
This image is courtesy of Rightech.
I can see bus operating companies, creating a career structure, that starts drivers on a PCV licence and progresses them upwards to the full PSV licence at 24.
Conclusion
I feel this could be a very sensible decision and like the age and competence structure for bus drivers, it creates worthwhile jobs for 18-24 year olds.
The Anonymous Widower 
I don’t understand how has the rail industry gone from train driving being a highly competitive job to get, as it was some years ago, to there now being a shortage.
Comment by HW | May 7, 2025 |
I’ve met a few drivers and even ridden in the cab of an HST.
https://anonw.com/2010/09/30/edinburgh-to-inverness/
Drivers are a friendly lot and are always willing to talk, if say one sits next to you in the back of the train.
I also get the impression, that most of them enjoy the job immensely.
Has the dynamics of natural wastage and retirement gone all wrong and now there are large numbers of drivers having to retire because of age and not enough of the right seniority coming through.
It is a complex problem and I wonder, if it happens in other professions like academia or medicine, where people don’t want to retire from a job they love?
It has just been announced that Heidi Alexander, is going to talk about this on BBC Radio 5, so I will stop my speculation.
Comment by AnonW | May 7, 2025 |
There is no lack of candidates but many fail to pass the assessments then you have the lack of trainers and fundamentally drivers that are prepared to risk their own licence to supervise trainees. All in all means numbers of drivers that can be trained per annum is quite low. Anyhow at least the DfT recognise that action needs to be taken and should be one the big benefits of GBR rather than all the poaching that went on with franchisees.
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | May 7, 2025 |