salary of a train conductor

kamran

Active member
i just want to know that what is the salary of train conductor and train driver on us class 1 and class 2 railroads in usa and what are the qualifications for both
thanks in advance
 
I have two close friends that have been conductors/engineers at BNSF for about 12 years. Working about 45 hours a week they average about $70,000 annually. This is the same for all locations in the U.S.

Keep in mind these earnings are the same on the East Coast, Midwest, or West Coast. $70,000 will go a lot further in Wellington, KS vs. Seatlle, WA.
 
An awful lot of that gross $70,000 goes to RR Retirement Tier I, Tier II, UC, City, State, Federal Tax's ... etc

So a bi-weekly paycheck of $1000 ends up being only $500 cash in the bank.

So a worker making $38 per hour really only makes @ $18 hr ... as tax's gobble it up.
 
An awful lot of that gross $70,000 goes to RR Retirement Tier I, Tier II, UC, City, State, Federal Tax's ... etc

So a bi-weekly paycheck of $1000 ends up being only $500 cash in the bank.

So a worker making $38 per hour really only makes @ $18 hr ... as tax's gobble it up.

They got a pretty good gig as I see it. They contribute to the RR retirement fund, union dues, and 401k if they choose. They do have to work odd hours and long shifts but there's something to say about the job security and the fact when they are off work, they're done. No emails at 10:30 pm, your day off, or working from home the night before a meeting. Sometimes I really envy my friends at the BNSF. :)
 
Your job security really doesn't kick in until you have several years under your belt, and you can expect bumped several times a year, and have 7 working days to pack up, relocate, and move. No sick days the first year.

They can call you back to work after 7 hours, with tellephone calls in the middle of the night.

Conductors ride, and hop on and off of slippery moving freight car ladders, day and night, in rain, sleet, snow, and heat ... It is a very dangerous position.
 
what about qualifications
I don't know about America, but here in Australia you can't be colourblind, and there are other sight rules. That is for a driver, not sure about guard.

But, here in Queensland, QR guards get $80,000 a year, drivers $130,000.

And I'm not joking, I know a few QR workers who have all said the above figures.
 
I don't know about America, but here in Australia you can't be colourblind, and there are other sight rules. That is for a driver, not sure about guard.

But, here in Queensland, QR guards get $80,000 a year, drivers $130,000.

And I'm not joking, I know a few QR workers who have all said the above figures.

Forgive my ignorance but I'm not sure what your currency is in Australia. Are those numbers based off Australia or American currency?
 
AU $ 80,000 = US $ 85,000 +/-

AU$ 130,000 = US $ 138,000 +/-

Basic is 1.00 US $ is $0.95 to AU $

But the exchange rates are subject to daily changes.

Have fun,
 
Average drivers wage in the UK is around £42,000 a year with various earnings on top for working rest days and Sundays and holidays (Christmas etc)

Various companies have different agreements with some having Sundays outside the working week (requiring volunteers each week) or others that have Sundays as part of the working week .

Top earners are
Arriva cross country £51,000+ basic
East coast with their drivers on £50,000 + basic
GBRF with £50,000 + basic

UK law stipulates that a driver must have a minimum of 12 hours rest between driving turns and that they cannot work more than 72 hours over a 7 day period or more than 13 consecutive turns , the 14Th day must be a rest day .

Companies are regularly audited to ensure that the agreements are complied with , any company found to be breaking the agreement on a regular basis to get turns covered can have it's operating license suspended or even removed !!
 
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For Norfolk Southern the requirements for a Conductor are:
Must be 18 years old
Must Have a High School Diploma or GED

For Norfolk Southern the requirments for a Engineer are:
Have completed Conductoer training
Worked as a Conductor for 1-5 years

Pay on Norfolk Southern at full rate for a Basic Day:
Conductor: $170.00-$200.00
Engineer: $200.00-230.00


Paul
 
The jobs are very hard to come by, and several thousand applicants show up to fill out the forms and do written testing, for ONE job opening.

Don't get discouraged if the first 100 applications get filed in the RR cylindrical file cabinet, you have to apply repeatedly, over and over again for years.

And too, the college course costs @ $5000 in Georga, just to get the ONE personal inteview with a Class I RR, HR person
 
An awful lot of that gross $70,000 goes to RR Retirement Tier I, Tier II, UC, City, State, Federal Tax's ... etc

So a bi-weekly paycheck of $1000 ends up being only $500 cash in the bank.

So a worker making $38 per hour really only makes @ $18 hr ... as tax's gobble it up.

If your salary is 70,000 you are going to be getting much higher than $1000 checks for 2 weeks.
 
According to Merriam-Webster, the word bi-weekly (or biweekly) has 2 meanings.

1 Twice a week

2 Every 2 weeks

cascaderailroad needs to define what he meant.

If twice a week, that equals 104 checks of $673+ per check (not a common pay schedule)

If every 2 weeks, that equals 26 checks of $2,692+ per check.

Looking for clarification from... cascaderailroad

Have fun,
 
i was worried about the qualification of driver bcz i thought they need some mechanical enginer for this job but its ok
the reason for asking this question is that i am very much intrested in trains of usa am i am planning to move to usa in upcomming years when i will finish my master degree in commerce which i am currrently doing
and i was worried that having a master degree in commerce i can never become a part of railroad
 
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