Learning to be a train driver from a simulator

As if she were in a train cabin, Sara Úbeda is experiencing what it's like to be a train driver in a simulator where everything is replicated, from whether it starts raining to the passengers waiting on the platform. "Except for the movement of the train," clarifies the student from the Renfe training center in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the headquarters for all of Catalonia.She still has months to drive a real train for the first time, but she will arrive familiar with the commands and the thousand buttons she will have in front of her when she does, after having practiced the basics in the simulator, from starting and braking, to looking in the rearview mirror to close the doors and not leave anyone behind.And to get used to what is known as the dead man, a pedal that they cannot stop pressing while driving so that the system verifies that the driver is well and does not pull the emergency brake. "It's their first contact with a train," explains the center's coordinator, Javier Ruiz Cantí. But, above all, the simulator serves to experience the most difficult situations that drivers can encounter on the track, when they are carrying more than a thousand people on their backs. In jargon, they call them "degraded situations," which means that some safety or circulation system is not working, such as the signals that tell them if they can pass breaking down.These are very unlikely situations, they might even never happen to them, but for which they have to be prepared to react without delay and remember the practices they did in the simulator, accompanied by a trainer with whom they can resolve doubts."The students leave completely prepared this way," remarks Ruiz Cantí. Úbeda is already thinking about when the simulation becomes reality: "The day before I will be very nervous, but like in all jobs, it will be the same for an airplane pilot or a doctor. It's a desire to do well. Like when you drive a car for the first time."The center's coordinator recommends "time and dedication" to those who are considering becoming train drivers."And you win," adds Úbeda, "you have to like it a lot, the course is very intense, all the time you have you are going to talk about trains." That is why it is a profession that new generations enter because it is a sector that attracts their attention or, often, because of family. In Úbeda's case, both, being the fourth generation dedicated to the railway world. It also ends up biting those who start in other positions in the railway sector, such as ticket inspectors or flight attendants, encouraging them later to be the one who drives.

About thirty students like Úbeda started the course in September at the L'Hospitalet center, beginning with a dense theoretical part in which they learn about the different trains in circulation and the infrastructure ---they have to be qualified for each vehicle and each line---, but also about history and legislation, before going to practice. A total of 1,150 hours, taught in about 10 months, which are divided into 650 hours of theory and 500 hours of practice ---half is dedicated to effective driving---. To enroll in the course, with a cost of 21,200 euros, only a high school diploma or a Mid-Level Vocational Training degree is required. A training that does not end when they start working as train drivers and that they have to renew every two years with refresher courses, in which they learn new rules or continue practicing unusual scenarios.

Inaugurated in 2007, with an investment of almost one million euros, the L'Hospitalet school is located at the Rodalies station from which lines such as R1, R3 and R4 depart, although many of its users do not even notice the presence of aspiring train drivers. It is one of the 12 public centers in Spain, having trained more than 3,900 train drivers in the 16 promotions carried out to date, to which will be added the 300 students who have enrolled this course.

In addition to Barcelona, there are centers in Madrid ---the largest---, León, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, Santander, Oviedo, Santiago de Compostela, Miranda de Ebro, Zaragoza, and Malaga. In 2023, those in Zaragoza, Oviedo, and Malaga were inaugurated. A large part of the students who complete these courses go on to become part of the Renfe group's train driver staff, which addresses retirements with these new additions. Many also find work in international projects in which the Spanish railway operator participates, such as the Tren Maya or the AVE of Mecca.

Still too much gender gapA pending issue in the railway world, as in many others, is the low presence of women.The number of students in the training courses for train drivers has been growing, although not spectacularly, remarks Ruiz Cantí.In the current course, 20% are girls, and a decade ago that proportion was below 10%. "Years ago, it was a male trade, like any other. Maybe it's a profession that girls don't know about or don't see themselves in. Hopefully, it will balance out little by little," Úbeda points out.