Victory for ASLEF campaign to reduce the age at which train drivers can start

The Labour government will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30.

Via the Guardian:

‘The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from 20, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers.

A looming mass exodus through retirement threatens to intensify driver shortages and worsen train reliability, with a lack of crew already a big cause of late-notice cancellations.

The current average age of Great Britain’s 24,000 train drivers is 48, and about 25% of them will reach retirement age before 2030.

According to a National Skills Academy for Rail report, that could mean a shortfall of 2,500 drivers in four years’ time.’

Dave Calfe, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, has warmly welcomed the news that the legislation to reduce the age at which drivers can begin training, from 20 to 18, will be brought before Parliament on Tuesday 10 February.

It is a victory for ASLEF – for passengers as well as train drivers – which will enable the railway industry to recruit the drivers it needs and to ensure that the people in the driver’s cab better reflect the communities we serve.

‘ASLEF has been campaigning for many years to lower the age at which drivers can start training,’ said Dave.

This decision, to allow people to leave education and become a driver at 18, will increase diversity in the driver’s cab by encouraging more young people from all communities to drive trains on Britain’s railways.

Because, at the moment, many young people make their career choice at 18 and the industry misses out as the current minimum age is 20. This change will widen the opportunity for the rail industry to recruit the large numbers of train drivers required over the next five years.

It offers young people the opportunity of secure employment – to get a job in a highly unionised industry with good pay, and good terms & conditions, in contrast to the short-term and insecure jobs in the gig economy which are, so often, all that is available to young people today.

Reducing the age from 20 to 18 – to bring it into line with Tube train drivers here in London and with other European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland – has been ASLEF policy for seven years.

ASLEF Young Members’ Committee brought a motion to their annual assembly of delegates – ASLEF’s annual conference – held in Leeds in 2019, proposing this move. They have been lobbying for the change ever since.

ASLEF took the policy to the Labour Party and it was this union which pushed it through the National Policy Forum, of which our general secretary was a key member. After Labour was elected in July 2024, they met with government to get it on the statute books.

Rob Kitley, chair of ASLEF’s Young Members’ Committee, and a driver with GWR, joined the railway eight years ago. He said:

It’s fantastic to see the legislation now being put in place for the reduction in the minimum train driver age to 18. As young train drivers we have been campaigning for this change for many years, in order to level the playing field and bring our industry into line with other parts of public transport, such as buses and the London Underground.

By widening the goal posts to allow younger candidates to join the driving grade, we open the door to new talent which may otherwise have been lost. This helps to safeguard the role and our industry for the future. We look forward to working with employers on decent apprenticeship schemes, and training plans, and welcoming our new colleagues into the driving grade.