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Train Driver / Rail Engineer
Operates trains carrying passengers or freight on rail networks.
Did you know?
In fiscal 2016, Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen ran about 130,000 trains with an average delay of just 24 seconds per train.
How subjects help
- Physics: Judge how far a heavy train needs to slow down, especially on wet or icy rails.
- Mathematics: Keep to the timetable by working out speed and time between each station.
- Engineering: Check brakes, motors and doors before a journey and spot faults while on the move.
A famous name
George Stephenson: Railway engineer who drove Locomotion No. 1 on the first public steam railway's opening day in 1825.
Try it yourself: Keep two trains safely apart
- Only one train may be on a single-track section at a time. Draw the line and the loop.
- What is the earliest Train 2 can leave C without ever meeting Train 1 on a single track?
- Write a timetable for both trains.
- Train 1 is 5 minutes late. What must change?
Railway signallers and train drivers work to exact timetables and signals so trains share tracks without ever meeting head-on.
Also try: Find the shortest delivery route.
Known for it in
Japan, Switzerland, Germany, France, UK