Last Updated: June 25th, 2022 by
Railroads and trains span all corners of the country, moving people and cargo daily. As a conductor on one of those trains, you’ll ensure that the train stays safely and on schedule to its destinations every day.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to become a train conductor. First, you’ll learn what train conductors do daily. Then you’ll know what it takes to become a conductor and what rewards you can expect from the job.
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Job Description
As a train conductor, your job is to coordinate the daily activities of your train. That begins with understanding the train’s route and schedules to ensure that the train is always on time.
Throughout your day, you’ll inspect the train, its passengers, and its cargo for any safety concerns. You’ll resolve any potential issues that you find or assign them to a qualified engineer to fix to keep the train operational and on schedule.
You will also help supervise the various train crew members in their roles. When all crew members work efficiently, the train can travel its route without disruptions.
Lastly, being the train conductor also means interacting with passengers to ensure that they receive the best experience possible.
What Does an Average Day for a Train Conductor Look Like?
Before you decide to learn how to become a train conductor, you must first understand what they do daily. That way, you can decide if this career path is suitable for you.
Here’s what you’ll do on an average day as a train conductor:
Communicates With Train Crew
Overall, your responsibility as a train conductor is to ensure that your train operates safely and efficiently. That’s why your day begins by communicating with train crews and on-ground staff like engineers and dispatchers.
The purpose here is to ensure that everyone understands the day’s trip(s) and any possible challenges the train might experience.
Oversee Cargo Handling
Next, you’ll oversee the safe loading and unloading of train cargo before departure. You’ll also use this time to double-check cargo documentation to ensure they’re on the correct train and heading to the right destination.
Review Any Alerts About Routes
Some train routes will have alerts about track conditions, equipment, or any difficulties along the way (like bad weather conditions, for example). Before your train departs, you must ensure that you’re aware of any alerts so you can share them with the rest of the train crew.
Inspect Train and Equipment Before Departure
Conductors must also walk through the entire train to inspect each car and its equipment for potential safety issues. Whenever you find any, you must report it to the assigned engineer to fix it quickly and keep the train on schedule.
Interact With Passengers
Your role is also a passenger-facing one. So, you’ll talk to passengers throughout your day and ensure that they’re having the best experience possible. Of course, that will also mean helping them with issues like seating problems or ticketing concerns.
Read More: Union Pacific Careers. We discuss what it takes to become a part of one of America’s biggest railroad companies!
Process for Becoming a Train Conductor
Your process for learning how to become a train conductor emphasizes hands-on skills more than formal education. Despite that, education still plays a significant role in helping you find work as a train conductor.
Here is what the process will look like for you:
1. Start Preparing in High School
Let’s suppose you’re still in high school. In that case, there are several courses that you can take to get a head start on your future career in the railroad industry.
Some helpful high school courses you can take include:
- Transportation or Industrial Technology
- Automobile and Diesel Mechanics
- Physics
- Metalworking
- Algebra and Trigonometry
These high school courses will give you early exposure to topics that you’ll experience in college, during training, and also when you’re working on the job as a train conductor.
Taking them early will make it easier to master those topics later on.
2. Get a Post-Secondary Education
Getting a college or university education is not compulsory to become a train conductor. However, some employers will prefer candidates with post-secondary qualifications like a relevant certificate or even a degree.
You’ll find that any kind of post-secondary qualification in railroad engineering or transportation will be helpful for you in your career.
3. Gain Relevant Work Experience
As you’ll see throughout this career guide, train conductors work closely with other specialists like rail yard engineers, switch operators, and signal operators as part of the same train crew.
That’s why you must gain work experience in any of those roles on trains or at rail yards.
Any experience you gain will help you succeed as a train conductor, as it’ll give you a deeper understanding of railroad operations.
4. Pursue Training
Hands-on training is a necessity to become a train conductor. In most cases, your employer will provide you with on-the-job training for at least 12 months.
After that, the employer will conduct a training program of their own or send you to a centralized training facility.
You’ll receive your training and mentorship from a qualified train conductor during that time.
5. Get Certified by the FRA
You must get certified by the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) before working on a train.
That certification process will include writing and skills tests, but more importantly, it’ll also include a supervised examination to confirm that you have a deep understanding of the route you’ll be working on.
Are You Suited for a Train Conductor Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools and Technology
When you choose to pursue this career path, you must also see if you have the necessary traits to ensure long-term success. Some of these traits include personality traits and skills and credentials, and proficiencies in specific areas.
Here are some of the traits you’ll need or have to develop to become a train conductor:
Personality and Skills
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) points out that communication skills, customer service skills, and strong visual and hearing abilities are necessary to become a train conductor.
Firstly, you must never forget that train conductors are only one part of any train crew. Many others are working on the train and on the ground to ensure railroads operate smoothly.
That’s why having strong communication skills is crucial for working smoothly with other train crew members.
As a train conductor, you’ll interact with passengers as much as train crews. So, having customer-service skills will help you in those interactions to keep passengers happy and resolve any problems that emerge.
Lastly, your visual and hearing abilities are critical at every point of your job. For example, wherever you go, you’ll visually inspect the train to ensure it’s clean and functional.
On the other hand, strong hearing abilities will help you notice problematic sounds that require attention.
Credentials and Proficiencies
The Occupational Information Network (O*Net) highlights that you must be proficient in transportation, public safety, and law and government.
Firstly, trains are part of complex railroad systems with many moving parts. When you understand transportation as a whole, you’ll understand why your role as a conductor on one train contributes to the smooth operation of the entire railroad.
Besides that, public safety is also a significant concern for train crew and passengers alike. Understanding that concern will help you minimize risks and prevent accidents from happening.
Lastly, railroads are regulated forms of transportation. Your proficiency in law and government related to railroads ensures that you’ll stay compliant with the rules whenever you do your job.
How Does a Train Conductor Find Work?
At some point during the process of learning how to become a train conductor, you’ll need to plan how you’ll find work when you’re ready.
Overall, the best strategy for finding work as a train conductor is to aim for the industries and sectors hiring the most train conductors.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides handy information for that. Their data shows that the best places for train conductors to find work are:
- Rail transportation companies
- State and local governments that operate railroads
- Companies that provide support services for rail transportation
- Land transportation companies providing scenic and sightseeing experiences
By focusing your job search on companies in these sectors, you’ll increase your chances of landing a job. That’s because those sectors are looking for people with your train conductor knowledge and skills.
How Do I Start Searching for Jobs?
You can start your search by checking your local area for organizations that fall into the 4 categories listed above. Then, check for current and future job openings by:
- Searching the careers page on their official websites
- Calling or emailing their recruitment/human resources department
- If possible, walk into their office to ask about job opportunities and their hiring processes
Whether or not they have current job openings, you should submit your resume or CV to them. That way, they’ll have your details on file for when they have future job openings for train conductors.
What is the Average Salary of a Train Conductor?
Being passionate about learning how to become a train conductor is good, but you’ll undoubtedly want to know how financially rewarding this career path will be.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has data showing that train conductors earn an average of $65,440 a year. That same data also shows that:
- The top 90th percentile of train conductors earn $90,520 a year, and
- The bottom 10th percentile of train conductors earn $43,430 a year.
As you’ll see below, where you choose to work in the country can also impact how much you’re likely to earn as a train conductor.
Which States Pay Train Conductors The Most?
Train conductors earn more in some states compared to others, and the BLS finds that these are the 5 highest-paying states for this job:
- New Jersey: $75,780 a year
- Nebraska: $75,060 a year
- Massachusetts: $73,580 a year
- California: $68,930 a year
- New Mexico: $68,660 a year
How Do I Earn More as a Train Conductor?
There are 3 ways to maximize your earnings as a train conductor.
Firstly, remember that there are both public and private railroad operators. As a train conductor, that means you have the option of applying to different employers, some of which pay significantly more than others.
Secondly, as the BLS data shows above, railroad operators in some parts of the country pay higher than others. Therefore, if there are no high-paying opportunities for train conductors in your area, you can relocate to a place where the average salary is higher.
Lastly, once you’ve started working for a railroad operator, you can volunteer for less desirable routes and shifts. You see, many train conductors prefer working on routes with more predictable schedules.
However, some routes are longer and with less ideal schedules. As a result, employers sometimes offer more attractive pay for conductors on these less desirable routes, which allows you to earn more.
Train Conductor Job Outlook
Overall, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that railroad worker jobs (including conductors) will grow by 5% until 2030. However, the BLS describes that growth rate as ‘slower than average’.
Nevertheless, that figure does confirm that the sector is growing, which means it’s still worthwhile for you to learn how to become a train conductor if you have an interest in the field.
Top 9 Other Railroad Jobs
Train conductors play a crucial role, but they’re not the only type of member on train crews. Instead, several different roles work together on trains and at train stations to ensure the safe movement of people and cargo.
Here are 9 other closely-related train crew roles that you can also consider pursuing:
#1 Railroad Mechanic
You’d essentially work as a diesel mechanic for trains in this role. Most trains run using diesel-electric engines, and your focus will be to keep them running as efficiently as possible.
You’ll work using tools like welding and machining equipment, among others.
Read More: How to Become a Motorcycle Mechanic. We walk through how to become a motorcycle mechanic in this complete guide!
#2 Track Laborer
This role is a more physically-demanding one that’ll have you inspecting and maintaining railroad tracks. Part of your job will also include monitoring other related train equipment from time to time.
#3 Brake Operator
Most trains rely on diesel-electric engines to go forward and rely on air brakes to slow down. That’s why they also require specialist brake operators to manage those brake systems. As a result, brake operators are often seen as assistant conductors on trains, typically riding onboard with other train crew.
#4 Switchman
As a Switchman, your job will handle the switches at train intersections. Those switches determine which direction any passing trains will go in, and they’re typically computerized these days.
#5 Signal Maintainer
Signal maintainers are another crucial part of the train crew, though they’re based on the ground. They take care of any electrical signal components like lights, switches, and the wiring that connects them together.
#6 Locomotive Electrician
Modern trains don’t just rely on their engines but also complex, diesel-powered electrical systems. So locomotive electricians specialize in checking and fixing those systems regularly.
#7 Train Dispatcher
For this role, you’ll be working at a central location that coordinates train movements in a particular region. Your focus is on ensuring that the trains move safely while communicating with train crew members onboard individual locomotives.
#8 Rail Car Loader
Trains don’t just carry people. They have cargo, too. That’s why railcar loaders are necessary to load and unload that cargo by hand or with warehouse machinery.
#9 Locomotive Engineer (or ‘Train Driver’)
Last but not least, the highest-ranking person onboard a train is the locomotive engineer. Conductors work alongside them as the engineer controls the train’s speed and communicates with train dispatchers.
Professional Associations
Most of your journey to learn how to become a train conductor involves hands-on experience instead of theoretical or classroom learning. So, mentorship and learning from your peers is extremely valuable in this line of work.
Here are some professional associations where you can connect with other people from all sides of the railroad industry:
The Association of American Railroads (AAR)
American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA)
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA)
Top Colleges and Universities
A college education isn’t compulsory if you’re interested in learning how to become a train conductor. Still, a degree is a worthwhile investment if you plan on building a long-term career in the railroad industry.
Here are some of the top colleges and universities with courses related to the railroad industry:
Mountwest Community and Technical College
