The profession of a machinist is difficult and responsible. After all, driving a locomotive, to which many cars are attached, is not easy, more difficult than driving a car. A machinist is a railroad operator who operates freight and passenger trains, as well as electric trains.
![How to become a train driver How to become a train driver](https://i.workingrede.com/images/007/image-18218-1-j.webp)
Where train drivers
Train drivers in the railway technical school, which you can enter after completing 9 classes of a comprehensive school. The list of disciplines taught to future machinists is very extensive. To control a train, you will need knowledge of its technical characteristics, railway traffic rules, safety precautions, etc., for example, on-board computers have appeared in modern trains, and the driver will also need knowledge of the principles of their operation. The computer sets the parameters of the movement, calculates the routes of movement, and the driver moves the locomotive off the spot.
Features of the profession
Knowledge of various types of locomotives belongs to the peculiarities of the profession of a machinist, because it is impossible to predict where exactly a graduate of a technical school will have to work and which composition to manage. Locomotives are subdivided into diesel locomotives and electric locomotives, as well as by the distance of the route. In addition, there are passenger and freight trains, depending on whether they transport people or goods.
Physically strong young men with a stable psyche can go to study as a driver, because the situation on the road is unpredictable. Various accidents are not uncommon, because the driver always goes on a trip only with an assistant driver. By the way, a graduate of a technical school will never be immediately appointed as a train driver - at first only as an assistant in order to get the necessary train practice. An assistant driver will have to work for at least two years, and then pass the exam. Such difficulties are due to the fact that the train driver is trusted with the lives of hundreds of people, therefore his level must be professional, and his qualifications are high. It is possible to study for a metro driver directly at the depot next to the metro line - it will be enough to complete the courses and pass the exam.
Only a long-distance train driver always works with an assistant, an electric train driver alone is able to cope with the transportation of passengers. Long-distance routes are divided into certain sections. Each driver is a connoisseur of only his area, that is, in the course of the train's movement, new locomotives are connected to it several times, which are controlled by different drivers.
At railway stations there are rest rooms for drivers, because the work of people in this profession is physically costly and difficult.
The profession of a machinist is in demand today, highly paid and will remain so for a long time. The machinist can find application of his knowledge on the railway, subway, mines and large factories with an internal railway connection.