Train driver

When driving a train or locomotive, a train driver, engine driver, engineman, or locomotive driver, also known as an engineer in the United States and Canada and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is responsible for the safety of the passengers and the safety of the railroad. Among his or her responsibilities are the operation and maintenance of the engine, the mechanical functioning of the train, its speed, and all other aspects of the train's manoeuvring. Unlike a shunter, a hostler is a person who moves locomotives about train yards but does not take them out onto the main lines. In British English, the term for this position is hostler.

A common path in the railroad industry in the United States is as follows: assistant conductor (brakeman), train conductor, and eventually engineer. Although the firefighter was formerly considered the next in line to become an engineer, that designation has since been abolished. Drivers in the United States are needed to be qualified and recertified every two to three years, depending on the state.

It used to be that in the United Kingdom (for steam locomotives), the typical career path went from engine cleaner to passed engine cleaner (which meant passing the assessment for fireman), then fireman, passed fireman (which meant passing the assessment for driver), and finally driver.

In India, a driver's apprenticeship begins as a diesel assistance (or electrical assistant for electric locomotives). They are then promoted on a sliding scale, first with commodities, then passengers, then mail express, and finally the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto express services, among others.

Christian Wolmar, a transport historian based in the United Kingdom, declared in October 2013 that train operators hired by the Rio Tinto Group to move iron ore through the Australian outback were likely to be the highest-paid members of their profession anywhere in the world at the time.