Becoming your own boss

I enjoy my job in the respect of helping to move London.

I know it sounds really silly but I love the fact that when I book on for duty and pick up a train I'm taking people where they want to go.

Where they want to be, and giving them a professional ride and the information as it comes to me.

Keeping them aware of what's going on on the line and making sure they're going to get to where they want to go.

Things I enjoy about my role as a Train Operator are the responsibility that we have, the respect that we receive from passengers, from management.

The main benefits I would see, as being an Instructor Operator or a Train Operator, the salaries good; it's a good salary.

Management tends to be fairly helpful and cooperative.

The hours can be quite flexible; you know if you don't like getting up early in the morning you can do lates or pick the duties you like best.

Some nice holidays, eight weeks holiday a year, great.

I enjoy working on my own, so being at the front of the train you're out and about, you're not stuck in an office or you're not stuck in a factory say.

Being a train operator to a certain extent you're your own boss.

You've got your cab and you go from point A to point B and a lot of it is within your own control.

I do like that aspect of my job.

Drawbacks of being a train operator; unsocial hours, long spells in the driving seat.

One of the drawbacks of being a Train Operator has got to be shift work.

You know, some of the shifts start at quarter to five in the morning, and depending on where you live you have to get up very early.

And also finishing late at night, you finish at half past one in the morning and it does affect your social life.

Some of the drawbacks obviously the sort of work we do you've go to be very careful if you go out partying or drinking, there's absolutely no tolerance on this job for drink or drugs.

Again some people might not like the shifts, might not enjoy the shifts.

We do work a lot of weekends, you only get weekends off once every once every four weeks.

The drawback to the job is sometimes the job can get boring, sometimes it can be a bit lonely.

Sometimes the shift work can be difficult as well, there are some negative aspects of the job.

Working Shifts, it can have quite a lot of drawback on your social life; you have to be on time, which punctuality is very important.

There are other things, some people don't like wearing uniform, some people do so that could be a plus or minus.

Key responsibilities, taking passengers from point A to point B as safely as you can and you are providing a service.

The key responsibilities are the number of passengers that we carry on the train and if we do have a problem, for example a defect on the train or something.

We can be stuck by ourselves having responsibility for such a large amount of people.

The main priority is to drive the train safely, operate the train safely in accordance with LUL regulations.

I believe the Train operator's role is safe but the actual role can expose you to certain risks, health risks ie problems with your back, you may experience problems with depression.

Shift work can impact on your family and your lifestyle.

Is my job safe or dangerous?.

The actual job is safe providing nothing goes wrong, that's when it can become dangerous, if you do not follow the correct procedures.

The job as far as safety goes, is a very safe job, providing you maintain your training.

Remain within the Health and Safety barrier, keep up with the standards, it's as safe as any other job.

Is this job safe or dangerous? I would definitely say safe, as long as you're doing the job properly then you'll have no problems.

Would I recommend it to anybody else?.

Yes, I would recommend the job but I will also point out that they need to do a lot of training to become a confident and safe Train Operator.

Would I recommend this job to others?.

In general I think I would, although I would have to say if you were a young single person it can encroach on your social life a bit.

So that is one negative but certainly where I am on the jubilee line, North Greenwich; great bunch of people to work with and it's been good to me.

I would recommend Train Operator's job to anyone within the company.

It's a very good job; the benefits are very good; also the annual leave is very good, the pay is also very good.

Being a Train Operator I believe is a unique environment, it is a lonely environment and you spend a lot of the time on your own.

So if you're thinking about becoming a Train Operator you should spend some time in a cab, do some full eight hour shifts, get up at the crack of dawn, finish three o'clock in the morning.

And make your way home on the staff taxi's and get a full appreciation of what the job involves.

Because at the end of the day the salaries not everything.

I think for me personally I would say if you wanted to become a train operator don't do it just for the money, the money looks very tempting but look at all aspects of the job.

If you re happy to be on your own in a cab for four and a quarter hours and not talk to anyone, and keeping the train moving, concentrating hard on what you've go to do, then yes it's for you.

But if you're the kind of person who likes to chat to people all day and enjoy company, it's a very difficult job.