Why do so many people want to be a machinist? Liberalization triggers the market

meherika

The number of aspiring train drivers has been booming in recent years and more and more people see this option as an interesting job alternative. And, today, it is a profession with full employment that absorbs newly trained people practically immediately, both for passenger and freight transportation. The only barrier to access - apart from the exams - is economic, since the course costs around  euros. Among the main attractions, in addition to the guaranteed job, are Renfe 's salary tables - superior to those of the private Iryo and Ouigo -. For driving staff they range betweenand  euros per year, depending on seniority and category, to which the variable part must be added, as stated in the company agreement.


Although the liberalization of passenger transport on high-speed trains has given a boost to the machinist profession due to the entry of private operators, it is Renfe that offers the best salary conditions to its machinists, so the companies must annually supply those professionals who move to the public sector. MachinistJob Function Email List candidates This month Renfe has opened registration for its 17th course for train driver candidates, for which it expects 294 registrations. In the  previous promotions, the public operator has trained more than drivers. Carlos Martí is one of these future machinists, barely in his thirties and with a career path that had nothing to do with the railroad, he decided to make a change in his life to pursue a vocation. «In my case, vocation and circumstances came together.



I have liked trains since I was little, in my previous job they decided to get rid of employees by offering incentivized leave and I took advantage of the bad situation to make the change to a profession that has always caught my attention," explains the young man . However, in addition to the vocation, what has led the majority of future train drivers to opt for this option is job security. In this regard, Martí assures that "it is true that my profile is not the majority among my colleagues, the majority profile is heterogeneous, but we could say that they are people who pursue a stable job, one that is not boring and in which they receive good salaries. . We are still in the course and people are already waiting for the public call… ” The majority of the applicants, Santiago Bullido , head of the Transfesa railway school , tells EFE , are young railway enthusiasts or more experienced people, who come from other sectors (truck drivers, construction, crane drivers, self-employed..