Stress of train driving and work/life balance

[SaulGoodman]

I am new to the forum and couldn't find an obvious place to ask this question, so I am hoping this sub-forum is best suited (if not, let me know). I read the guidelines and think it falls under the topic of "Wider discussions about careers and jobs in the railway industry"

My question....

My partner became a qualified train driver about a year ago, after a long period of training.

We're both early 40s, been together 7 years. There has been quite a dramatic change in his personality since he started the job/started driving on his own without an instructor. He has become incredibly irritable, distant. I am very sympathetic to what intense work stress can do to your mind and body from experience.

I think it comes from a combination of stress (I understand drivers are under enormous pressure never to make mistakes), being messed around by his employer (they will send him halfway across the network to drive random trains), low morale from union strikes and also the added stress from doing split shift work and a messed up body clock.

I should also add that my partner is not a train enthusiast and so that joy from looking forward to driving just isn't there. He does it because he has been in the railway industry for a long time and wanted a better job (he was an internal hire).

Is this high stress typical for someone in his position? I think he's been qualified about a year or so, does it get any better? I'm hoping over time he will get more relaxed with his job and chill out a bit.

 

[Horizon22]

Train driving can certainly be quite an adjustment and the change to the work/life balance is certainly something to take into account.

Driving for a FOC/freight company (which I presume due to the comment on "halfway across the network" - do clarify if different?) can be particularly harsh with schedules for particular types of work.

Is stress normal? Well not necessarily, but shift work can take its toll physically and mentally and I imagine the irritability comes into this if its really not enjoyable. Others may have more direct advice, but it might be worth him talking it through with a line manager and or getting to the bottom of what the major concern is and how it can be mitigated if possible. It might be that ultimately a switch of TOC/FOC may be beneficial for work/life balance.

 

[Mattydo]

Shift work can be quite an adjustment and train crew shifts are certainly at the extreme on the railway at least.

I've worked them for decades now, some far less sociable than driving, but you never really become fully used to them, the human body just doesn't work that way, instead you try to become better at listening to your body and it's needs.

A little knowledge about circadian rhythms can help too, allowing you to know when your body is most ready to accept sleep in the daytime etc. People say they develop all sorts of coping methods but the reality is you have to work with your own body's rhythm not try and force sleep when your body isn't ready for it.

Irritability is almost certainly a result of poor or not enough sleep I imagine. The job does have its pressure and stressors but I would hope that your partners' approach to the job could relieve the fear of mistakes. Management are rarely too punitive where mistakes are genuinely made and owned up to.

Either way (and this will sound more like relationship advice than job advice) my recommendation is a good chat. Not accusatory, (i.e. why are you such a grumpy sod?), but curious and empathetic. Often, men in particular, don't want to appear unable to cope but providing an opportunity for a frank discussion might be a good idea and then maybe you can both come up with a plan of action, whether that's working out better sleep, or how the job might be affecting them.

I'd agree that sometimes a change of scenery can be a good answer. If your partner is doing intense metro work perhaps a shift to intercity or FOC work might be the plan. Having a goal can often help to relieve the stress. If it's the travel far away then maybe a nice metro job pootling around the local area appeals.

Good luck.

 

[AverageJoe]

Circadian rhythm is what I would say.
No matter how much you live a sensible lifestyle and following all the suggested methods you still don’t get as much sleep as you need.

The body doesn’t want to drastically change its sleeping pattern each week but hey that’s the job and often we end up having too much coffee to compensate but then that has the negative effect of keeping you up when you can get to bed.

I wouldn’t say it has changed my mood tho, but maybe he finds the job boring and lonely too.

I would say I feel absolutely no stress in the job and I don’t think any of my colleagues do either. It’s not something I ever hear from drivers tbh.

 

[Chucky]

The only stress in being a train driver is that which you make for yourself.

 

[Gemz91]

The biggest stress I have of the job is the struggle to book leave, particularly at short notice or during school holidays. But everyone is different. Different people find different aspects of the job stressful.

I know of one person who couldn’t hack the job because he was obsessed with the fact he was going to hit someone from day one. He ended up getting a job on the platforms instead.

A friend of mine had an incident within his first year (passed a signal at danger). Completely knocked his confidence and was always petrified of having another safety incident.

Maybe there’s something playing on your partners mind he’s not told you about?

For me, it helps if I use my days the best I can. Having days off during the week when most my other friends have times off at weekends means often I’m a billy no mates on my days off. Planning walks helps me to make sure I get out the house. I took an allotment on so I can have a project to do during the day. Today I was either going to go on a local community walk, where I’d be 30 years younger then anyone else, but as the weather is bad I’m going to go to the local church coffee morning. Not everyone’s cup of tea (or coffee) but I gets me out the house doing stuff.

I find having days off during the week, it becomes so easy to waste them away and for me, that’s when I struggle most.

Also, I don’t do any rest day work, I keep away from work most the most I can. The extra money would be nice, but my mental health is more important. If your partner has an incident in the first year of driving, they’ve got a long career ahead with that in their file.

I turn my work group chats onto mute all times, don’t check them on days off or after work. I’ve stopped going drinking with people from work, as i found all we’d do is talk about work on days off, which is what I don’t want. Even limit how much I use trains on my days off to stay away from people talking about work to me.

Everyone’s different though and everyone has different stresses. Hope your partner can find a way to start enjoying their work more. But for me, maximising my rest days is what benefitted me most.

 

[Mawkie]

We're both early 40s, been together 7 years. There has been quite a dramatic change in his personality since he started the job/started driving on his own without an instructor. He has become incredibly irritable, distant. I am very sympathetic to what intense work stress can do to your mind and body from experience.

I think it comes from a combination of stress (I understand drivers are under enormous pressure never to make mistakes), being messed around by his employer (they will send him halfway across the network to drive random trains), low morale from union strikes and also the added stress from doing split shift work and a messed up body clock.

I must say you sound like a wonderful person, and I'm sure your partner appreciates your empathy in your approach to this situation.

I drive a tube train (so, not national rail), but I cannot say that I, or any of the drivers I encounter in the mess room, admit to feeling stressed about the job.

There is always a 'bedding-in" period in any new job, and that is exaggerated in the safety critical work of a train driver. On my line, it is often said that it takes around 2 years to really "get to know the road". That is to say, to understand the signalling, the stock, the rules and procedures, accept the seriousness of the role, and the responsibilities of driving a train. It is only after this period that people seem to settle in - they've made friends in the depot and just relaxed into the rhythm of work.

You've had good advice above about trying to maintain a good sleep schedule and making the most of rest days, so I shan't dwell on that - other than to suggest that you both try to 'do something" together on rest days (car boot sale, country house, visit to the coast, classic car show, or whatever). I hope your partner reverts to their usually self soon, and I think having a thoughtful and supportive partner such as yourself will help them with that.

Good luck.

 

[whoosh]

I found my first year driving 'mentally draining'. It does take time to settle into.

On top of that, the shift start/finish times and how they can change significantly week to week, even day to day sometimes, is physically draining. It's possible it's more so than his previous rôle.

Is he able to find anyone to swap shifts with, so he only does lates for example? Maybe that could help. (This isn't possible at every TOC as it depends on the base roster, and is is very unlikely at FOCs.)

With regards to the solitary aspect of the job, I think the lack of talking to anyone whilst at work can make a bad/irritable mood kick around all day, without any contact with anyone to be snapped out of it.

 

[Ashfordian6]

The only stress in being a train driver is that which you make for yourself.

Is that perception or have you measured it in some way?

I only ask as I perceive the majority of car driving as not stressful, but when measured it is a high stress activity? (concentration, focus, etc)

 

[matt_world2004]

I am new to the forum and couldn't find an obvious place to ask this question, so I am hoping this sub-forum is best suited (if not, let me know). I read the guidelines and think it falls under the topic of "Wider discussions about careers and jobs in the railway industry"

My question....

My partner became a qualified train driver about a year ago, after a long period of training.

We're both early 40s, been together 7 years. There has been quite a dramatic change in his personality since he started the job/started driving on his own without an instructor. He has become incredibly irritable, distant. I am very sympathetic to what intense work stress can do to your mind and body from experience.

I think it comes from a combination of stress (I understand drivers are under enormous pressure never to make mistakes), being messed around by his employer (they will send him halfway across the network to drive random trains), low morale from union strikes and also the added stress from doing split shift work and a messed up body clock.

I should also add that my partner is not a train enthusiast and so that joy from looking forward to driving just isn't there. He does it because he has been in the railway industry for a long time and wanted a better job (he was an internal hire).

Is this high stress typical for someone in his position? I think he's been qualified about a year or so, does it get any better? I'm hoping over time he will get more relaxed with his job and chill out a bit.

It may not be the shift pattern that's causing this , it may be the lone working., I find the isolation all day in a lone working job destructive to my mental health.

This can also magnify the effect of small stresses as you have no one to talk to about it.

 

[Ken X]

Is that perception or have you measured it in some way?

I only ask as I perceive the majority of car driving as not stressful, but when measured it is a high stress activity? (concentration, focus, etc)

This is an interesting point. I was not going to contribute having not worked on the railways but I have spent over 35 years in safety critical work, usually alone. The trick for me was to differentiate pressure from stress. To me pressure is what the operation demands of me. This is fine. I have the skills and experience to deal with the work and the confidence to undertake the tasks necessary. Stress is what I generate myself internally and is not good. To me it is stress that does damage. It can cause moods to alter, create poor sleep patterns and eventually, if not sorted, can degrade your ability to perform the tasks required. How you combat this varies from person to person. I consiously relax, compartmentalise and have other activities which take me away from the work environment. Twice in my career I have found stress was becoming a problem, once after twelve years constant night shifts and once I was promoted into a purely office based job. In both cases I talked to management and eventually walked away from the job. The support of a partner is massively important, a fact I did not appreciate until I stopped working away from home and realised what my partner was going through, not knowing where I was or how the job was going. Fortunately I got away with it but it says more about her than me. Communication with your partner is key and I wish the OP the best in what can be a challenging situation.

 

[bramling]

Is that perception or have you measured it in some way?

I only ask as I perceive the majority of car driving as not stressful, but when measured it is a high stress activity? (concentration, focus, etc)

Car driving is a bit different as there is the constant issue of having to be concerned with what others are doing, especially as in a lot of cases the standard of driving on roads is very poor.

Train driving is more akin to rowing a single boat, in other words any error is likely to be down to you and you alone. This can make it stressful or not depending on one’s own level of confidence, and to an extent experience.

 

[Stigy]

I felt more stressed having only just passed out as a driver, because I didn’t want to be one of those new drivers to become incident prone, and question my ability in the job. Not generally helped by how certain managers look at incidents and subsequently carry out their investigations.

I had a relatively mediocre safety of the line incident literally a week before the end of my first year driving and was gutted. I felt like I’d started again in terms of keeping my licence “clean” and really had my confidence knocked.

I’m now toward the end of year 2 and touch would I’ve had nothing since, but it’s still a worry. Generally I don’t really pay enough attention about the service to be stressed on a daily basis other than specifics outlined above. I think it’s good to have an awareness of keeping to time etc, but I wouldn’t become stressed about it. It can naturally be stressful dealing with unit failures or incidents out of your control because there’s always the thought about the stringent times to report certain things and get the relevant assistance etc.

 

[66701GBRF]

Driving for a FOC/freight company (which I presume due to the comment on "halfway across the network" - do clarify if different?) can be particularly harsh with schedules for particular types of work.

I don't think it is a freight company to be honest. I'm not aware of any freight strikes and freight don't do split shifts.

 

[ThePeakNed]

I don't think it is a freight company to be honest. I'm not aware of any freight strikes and freight don't do split shifts.

Yeah I was gonna say, the only companies on strike currently are passenger companies.

 

[CAF397]

The only stress in being a train driver is that which you make for yourself.

Perfectly put. I work with some people who get stressed out when their train is late, or if they get yellow signals.

Life's too short.

 

[Ashfordian6]

Car driving is a bit different as there is the constant issue of having to be concerned with what others are doing, especially as in a lot of cases the standard of driving on roads is very poor.

Train driving is more akin to rowing a single boat, in other words any error is likely to be down to you and you alone. This can make it stressful or not depending on one’s own level of confidence, and to an extent experience.

A relatively empty motorway in the evening definitely doesn't 'feel' stressful, however based on the measurement of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) it is measured as a medium-high or high stress activity. I'm not sure there are that many differences between the two regarding staying alert, maintaining focus, etc, and this is what causes un-noticed stress on the body. But I'm willing to open minded if this is that much different to driving a train.

I do know that hours of this level of stress leads to fatigue, thus making the stress on the body higher but this may not be being recognised hence I was asking if this has been measured over perception. If I am correct this could easily be the underlying cause of the issue for the OP's partner?

 

[Horizon22]

I don't think it is a freight company to be honest. I'm not aware of any freight strikes and freight don't do split shifts.

True. But then I'm not aware of any TOCs with drivers with split shifts either. It was more based on being sent "halfway across the network" which would otherwise mean covering other depot work.

 

[bramling]

A relatively empty motorway in the evening definitely doesn't 'feel' stressful, however based on the measurement of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) it is measured as a medium-high or high stress activity. I'm not sure there are that many differences between the two regarding staying alert, maintaining focus, etc, and this is what causes un-noticed stress on the body. But I'm willing to open minded if this is that much different to driving a train.

I do know that hours of this level of stress leads to fatigue, thus making the stress on the body higher but this may not be being recognised hence I was asking if this has been measured over perception. If I am correct this could easily be the underlying cause of the issue for the OP's partner?

The point about HRV is a very interesting one, and one which I’ve always wondered about. It would be interesting to be able to get access to some proper data on this in respect of train driving, but I guess it probably doesn’t exist.

I’d imagine I could fire up something like Simsig on a PC and in certain scenarios HRV would shoot right down even though it’s only a game. I wouldn’t say that’s as stressful as driving along something like the M25 during daytime though. Again it would be very interesting to have some proper data-led comparisons on all this.

 

[387star]

Biggest stress is often taxis being late/not turning up and you're hanging around miles from home!

 

[Gemz91]

Perfectly put. I work with some people who get stressed out when their train is late, or if they get yellow signals.

Life's too short.

This always puzzles me. I drive from signal to signal. If a signal is red, I stop. When it turns green I go, never thinking twice about the red signal I’ve just stopped at.

Some at my depot act like it’s a personal vendetta from the signalman aimed at them when they receive a red signal. Certainly can think of a few signals passed at danger because the driver was focussed more on getting angry at the signaller for being cautioned then they were focussed on stopping at the red signal.

 

[muz379]

Is this high stress typical for someone in his position? I think he's been qualified about a year or so, does it get any better? I'm hoping over time he will get more relaxed with his job and chill out a bit.

Worth bearing in mind that depending on what TOC and which depot a year might only have been one go round the link so to speak(might not even be that in some cases) , so there might be things he is competent on that he has only done once or twice in that year , its difficult to build up experience doing things that sporadically .

Of course being qualified and being experienced as a driver are also two seperate things , there might be out of course situations or workings that he has been assesed as competent on but that he has not actually done either under instruction or on his own . For some people that can be stressful .

Leaf fall for example can be a challenging time of year , if he has only been qualified for a year he might have been route learning or traction training last leaf fall so hasn't had the experience to drive unaccompanied during leaf fall .

 

[SaulGoodman]

Thank you all for the replies I appreciate all the different opinions and advice!

I am not familiar with your industry jargon so I may have misspoke when referring to split shifts – my partner does a combination of different shifts throughout the month. Some seem to be a super early start (around 3/4/5am), some a 9am start and some starting later in the evening. He doesn't do a full night shift.

He drives intercity passenger trains. We recently moved and he was transferred to a different home station so had to learn new routes. We went from one end of his company's network to the other end, so a huge change.

Sometimes his employer will send him a few hours away from his home station to start driving a train from a different station. He complains about this extra commute time (trains are extra crowded at the moment apparently). I don't know how common this is, it seems to be a weekly thing for him. Every time it happens is he pretty annoyed about it. Does this often happen to other drivers too?

Some further responses:

Mattydo – some interesting suggestions there thanks.

Gemz91 – by rest days do you mean Sunday working?

Mawkie – that's very nice of you to say, my partner is ferociously independent and stoic, and so doesn't seem to like me helping me or showing any concern. Funnily enough we were meant to go to a classic car show recently !

whoosh – yes that is something he suggested he could do in the future if he finds someone to swap with.

matt_world2004 – weirdly enough he is the complete opposite and relishes working alone!

Ken X – interesting that you mention compartmentalisation as my partner did comment on how he was really good at it, and how it would be useful in this job. That makes me feel it's more likely poor sleep/general tiredness that is making him grumpy, rather than actual stress from the job. I wish this skill could be taught somehow as I'm useless at it!

Stigy – so how does it work in terms of keeping your licence clean? Is it like a car licence with points and such?

Muz379 – good points thank you.

 

[Gemz91]

Rest days - any days off. Rest day work would be any day that should be a day off but a driver decides to work over time instead.

 

[greatkingrat]

Sometimes his employer will send him a few hours away from his home station to start driving a train from a different station. He complains about this extra commute time (trains are extra crowded at the moment apparently). I don't know how common this is, it seems to be a weekly thing for him. Every time it happens is he pretty annoyed about it. Does this often happen to other drivers too?

I think he might be getting confused. Most companies will have some jobs where you need to travel to a different location before you start driving, either via taxi, or via train. However that travel time is paid and is part of your normal contractual hours. It is not additional unpaid overtime.

 

[TurboMan]

Lots of really good responses and advice here. All I would add is that I would suggest your partner speaks to their line manager (driver team manager, driver standards manager, etc. depending on what term the company uses) and see if they can help in any way. Being stressed in the cab can often end up resulting in an operational incident, which nobody wants. The vast majority of driver managers are sympathetic to the stresses the job can bring (having done it themselves) and would rather deal with any issues confidentially and supportively now than have to deal with it post incident. It's much better for everyone concerned (including your partner) to deal with things before an incident than after.

 

[Stigy]

Thank you all for the replies I appreciate all the different opinions and advice!

I am not familiar with your industry jargon so I may have misspoke when referring to split shifts – my partner does a combination of different shifts throughout the month. Some seem to be a super early start (around 3/4/5am), some a 9am start and some starting later in the evening. He doesn't do a full night shift.

He drives intercity passenger trains. We recently moved and he was transferred to a different home station so had to learn new routes. We went from one end of his company's network to the other end, so a huge change.

Sometimes his employer will send him a few hours away from his home station to start driving a train from a different station. He complains about this extra commute time (trains are extra crowded at the moment apparently). I don't know how common this is, it seems to be a weekly thing for him. Every time it happens is he pretty annoyed about it. Does this often happen to other drivers too?

Some further responses:

Mattydo – some interesting suggestions there thanks.

Gemz91 – by rest days do you mean Sunday working?

Mawkie – that's very nice of you to say, my partner is ferociously independent and stoic, and so doesn't seem to like me helping me or showing any concern. Funnily enough we were meant to go to a classic car show recently !

whoosh – yes that is something he suggested he could do in the future if he finds someone to swap with.

matt_world2004 – weirdly enough he is the complete opposite and relishes working alone!

Ken X – interesting that you mention compartmentalisation as my partner did comment on how he was really good at it, and how it would be useful in this job. That makes me feel it's more likely poor sleep/general tiredness that is making him grumpy, rather than actual stress from the job. I wish this skill could be taught somehow as I'm useless at it!

Stigy – so how does it work in terms of keeping your licence clean? Is it like a car licence with points and such?

Muz379 – good points thank you.

We don’t get points, but any safety of the line incident is logged on our file/licence with the ORR. As far as I’m aware they never come off the licence, so can hamper any future applications to move company. I guess everything is dealt with individually based on length of time since the incident/between incidents etc. as well as how you’ve learned from each incident and what mitigations and NTS you have in place since. I guess it could even help at interviews for jobs?

 

[Ken X]

Sometimes his employer will send him a few hours away from his home station to start driving a train from a different station. He complains about this extra commute time (trains are extra crowded at the moment apparently). I don't know how common this is, it seems to be a weekly thing for him. Every time it happens is he pretty annoyed about it. Does this often happen to other drivers too?

Hi,
Refering my last post, this is a nice example of stress as opposed to pressure. Arriving at work annoyed is not a good start to the day. It is easy to say, but I understand the problem. I spent several years travelling to Heathrow daily via the joyous M25
(Should have been sponsored by NCP in my view). At first I would get ratty every time I was delayed getting to work feeling it was unprofessional and poor service. I always left in plenty of time, but when you see the air ambulance landing in front of you, you know it's just not going to be your day. After a few months of this I noticed the stress and decided that it was not my problem. Gave myself a good talking to and resolved to just ring the Boss or the client I was due to meet and say why I was delayed and rearrange or delay the start time. Turned out almost all of them had been similarly delayed regularly and were perfectly happy to rejig the job. I decided never to allow the stress to build but enjoy my view of the hard shoulder. (remember them). It's not easy but you have to sort the stress so you are relaxed and able to handle the pressure.

 

[Sly Sloth]

Not everyone is suited to the role, money is now enticing the wrong kind of person into the role!
Younger people don’t want to miss out on nights out and weekends away but do!
women don’t want to spend time away from their kids by doing extreme shift work but do!
Once in the role you can find yourself trapped by the money offered and in some cases the flexibility of shifts but again these aren’t for everyone!
Lone working isn’t for all, I love it, others hate having no interaction for hours!
it’s time to make a decision, the sooner the better, or depression can and does takeove.

 

[ComUtoR]

does it get any better? I'm hoping over time he will get more relaxed with his job and chill out a bit.

THIS ISN'T NEGATIVE..

As someone who has gone through the ringer with a relationship; in part due to work. I can honestly say it doesn't always get better. What does happen is that partners learn to understand and make adjustments for the ones they love. As already mentioned, there is a lot of psychological impacts with shift work specifically and also due to lack of sleep.

As Train Drivers, as well as others in similar situations, we are a little psychologically broken. If I went through my week, I could list all kinds of weird and stressful situations. My, now ex partner, never used to understand that when I come home I want to switch off and not think about it. I need a decent nights sleep and a partner who understands I'm gonna be Mr Grinch at times and sometimes I don't want to share that I almost killed someone due to a near miss or I almost stopped short because I drifted off thinking about the kitchen for the umpteenth time. I can't go to your Mother in laws birthday, not because she's the Devil, but because I need to get up at 0300 to drive a Choo Choo at 0434. If you can understand and take the rough with the smooth; I swear I will love you forever. Seriously, it often takes a very understanding and committed partner to be with a Train Driver; or generic Shift Worker.

The smooth really does have its benefits. Long weekends and being able to hit the shops during the week; avoiding the 9-5 crazy weekend mentality. Higher wages (Kerching !!!!) and the benefits that brings. I have had many benefits that have outweighed the hard parts of the job. I think maybe, your partner needs to also understand this part too. (open to any PMs)

My kids have been on the better side as they have grown up only knowing I'm a Train Driver so they generally understand that I might not be there for everything but I'm there for quite a lot; again, the money helps (little B'stewards ) Kids are a little more resilient than adults as their expectations are a little different and I do understand that mine grew up with me as a Driver but others have had the culture shock; and that is important to recognise.

I've met many 'Driver Wives' over the years and it truly does take a special kind of person to love us grumpy buggers but it IS worth it in the long run.

20yrs in and I'm still a miserable git when I've had a long shift/week/day/trip/assessment/shunt/etc.