- 5 months ago
Meet Heather Waugh Train Driver - Freightliner
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I'm Alistair Dalton, the Scotsman's transport correspondent, looking at a little-known area of the rail industry, and that's rail freight.
00:10It's about 12,000 trains a day carry freight in and out of Scotland and around the country.
00:17Most of it is cross-border, bringing a range of consumer goods to supermarkets and other shops.
00:24But also, there's a big export of whiskey, spirits, Highland Spring from Perthshire, quarry aggregates from the Atlantic, and cement from Dunbar crossing the border out of Scotland.
00:39However, there has been a reduction of some rail freight carried, with Royal Mail ending its long-standing cross-border mail trains in October 2024,
00:50and with the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in April 2025, and end to oil shipments from there.
00:59I'm here at the Coatbridge Terminal in North Lanarkshire to meet one of the freightliner drivers, Heather Watt.
01:07So, we've got on our train, we're about 24 wagons, but we're only 700 tons, so that's telling us that we're primarily empty wagons.
01:22The terminal needs empty wagons, so that it can make up the trains for this evening.
01:28As I've mentioned, the trains going south tend to be significantly heavier, and the trains coming back, all our good Scottish exports going out to England and the world.
01:38A lot of people always ask, do we know what's on the train?
01:41The simple answer is, for the most part, we don't.
01:45We get a list of every single container, we know what it weighs, and we know if there's anything flammable in it.
01:51For obvious reasons, as a train driver, I need to know whether there's risk on my train, so I need to know those aspects.
01:57For the most part, we don't.
01:59Obviously, some of these trains also transport cars, we transport white goods, we transport groceries.
02:05There could be anything in the train, but we don't know.
02:09We just know if it's got potential risk in there.
02:13This is how Freightliner like to run our trains.
02:17We like to send two 90s out together.
02:21They're already hugely environmentally friendly, so the benefit of having two of them means that we can take heavier loads, obviously.
02:32We can cope with the gradients, because Scotland and the north of England does have an awful lot of gradients.
02:37You know, we've got Beat It Kills, we've got Sharp.
02:40They actually tied off, they can draw forward.
02:44Building air.
02:45And the benefit of having the two locals is that they can cope with all of that.
02:48But it's also a fail-safe that if anything goes wrong with one of the locals, you've still got the other local there.
02:53So it's just, again, a matter of making sure that we deliver for our customers.
02:58We're actually so powerful that we're limited.
03:02You know, if we were going at full speed, you would see that our power wouldn't go above, like, 1100 watts.
03:10We're so powerful that Network Rail do ask us to limit our power.
03:14But again, it does mean that if we have a particularly difficult load, we've got the opportunity to isolate that and get even more power.
03:21A lot of people ask me what the difference between driving passenger trains and freight trains is.
03:27And I think the simplest way to describe it is freight trains are far more technical.
03:34I think the job of a train driver in general has a huge dependency on non-technical skills.
03:40You know, we really need to have a really good situational awareness and passenger drivers in particular have so many considerations when they're driving.
03:50But the trains themselves aren't that hard to start and stop.
03:55You know, it's the route learning and a lot of other factors.
03:57But freight trains are really technical.
04:00You really need to know the weight of your train.
04:05You need to know how your locomotives are performing.
04:08You really need to know the gradients of your route.
04:11You need to know when to brake, when to accelerate.
04:14With us just now, we've got two brakes.
04:17We've got the locomotive brake over here in the back and we've got the train brake.
04:22If I start braking because of the length of this train, nothing will happen.
04:27I mean, I'm braking at the moment and you probably can't feel it.
04:30It takes a long time to talk to all the wagons in this train.
04:34And similarly, when I take the brake off, that brake is going to continue to brake for a significant period of time.
04:40So you really need to forward think as a freight driver.
04:43You really need to utilise your gradients.
04:47It's just, it's really enjoyable.
04:50I often compare it to if you take your car out for a run.
04:53And if you take it into the city centre, it's going to take a lot of concentration, but it might not be quite as enjoyable.
05:00And sometimes that's a bit like passenger driving when you've got a lot of stations.
05:05But if you take your car out into the country, you have to actually technically drive the car far more.
05:11But it's a more enjoyable experience and that's a bit like what freight train driving is like.
05:16You really are driving the train at all times and you need to concentrate on that.
05:21It's funny, you know, my mum, as all mums do, is continually horrified when she sees the length of the trains
05:29and then finds out that I'm the only person on it and thinks I'm going to be lonely.
05:34The simple fact is, for all train drivers, you need to know that you're okay with your own company.
05:41And although passenger train drivers have several hundred passengers behind them,
05:46they are still on their own in this cab and they still need to focus.
05:50I enjoy the fact that I'm entrusted with the biggest and the most powerful trains in the United Kingdom.
05:59I actually really enjoy that aspect of it.
06:03I love the fact that somebody trusts me on my own to drive these trains.
06:08I don't find any problem with that at all.
06:11But if you are an extrovert and you love being in other people's company all the time,
06:17then yeah, probably this isn't the job for you.
06:19But if you're quite happy with your own company and, you know, you're calm under pressure,
06:24then this is the best feeling in the world, just taking this and heading off on your own.
06:30It's so empowering.
06:31As I mentioned earlier, these freight trains have a maximum speed of 75 miles an hour.
06:38It's not that we can't pull faster than 75 miles an hour.
06:44You'll see that these go up to 110 miles an hour.
06:46And these would pretty much get up to that if we allowed them to.
06:52The reason that we're limited to 75 is how long it takes us to stop.
06:56You know, the signalling sections are a certain distance.
07:00And because we're so heavy, it's how long it would take us to stop.
07:04So 75 miles an hour is the fastest that it's safe for us to go to.
07:08It depends on the load, you know, but it can take any train up to, like, three quarters of a mile to stop.
07:13This is one of the most unique aspects of freight that, as a passenger driver, was very surreal for me.
07:22As a passenger driver, in terms of reversing a train whilst you're at the front, we can only go two feet.
07:30And that's literally if we're coupling onto another train and stuff like that.
07:34We can only go two feet, whereas in here we're about to take, so we've 26 wagons, 24 wagons we said we had.
07:43We're about to take all 24 wagons past the terminal and then effectively propel them back.
07:49So we're relying on the shunter to be our eyes at the back of the train.
07:53And again, as somebody that comes from passenger driving, for me to, you know, layman's terms, reverse a train, what we call propelling,
08:02it's a very, very strange feeling to be completely trusting somebody's eyes at the back of this train.
08:10But again, it's one of the technical things that I love about freight.
08:13We're quite light today.
08:14At any given time, our weight will change.
08:19We might take two wagons off.
08:21We might come out again.
08:22We might put four wagons on a different road.
08:25So every time we propel backwards, we have a different weight on.
08:29And that affects how you control the speed of the train.
08:33Obviously, because we're propelling, we're going backwards, our maximum speed's three miles an hour.
08:38And it's very technical to hold a train at three miles an hour.
08:42It might not look like we've got gradients here, but coming back, there are ever so slightly changes in the gradient that change how this train wants to respond.
08:53The weight on the train changes constantly.
08:56So again, it's something that terrified me at the start, but I actually love.
09:00It's just, it's really technical, it's challenging, it's something that I really enjoy doing.
09:06So no wing mirrors?
09:07No wing mirrors.
09:10Obviously, going forward, I'm responsible.
09:12I can see in front of me.
09:14But the minute we start propelling backwards, the shunter's in charge.
09:18See, he will continually speak to us, even though he's not given us any information.
09:22He will continually speak to us so that we know that nothing's went wrong behind us.
09:28There are not many locations that are just for freight, other than things like head shunts and terminal locations.
09:35One quite famous location that is just for freight is actually the Edinburgh Suburban Line.
09:41Which, because I grew up in Edinburgh, I always saw the trains passing there.
09:50And the first time that I signed that route, I was allowed to drive that route.
09:56It was actually quite emotional for me because it doesn't matter how far you drive a freight train.
10:02When you actually drive it in a location that's so familiar to you that you grew up in, that's just really quite magical.
10:09There's something quite strange that this whole Suburban Rail Line, so many miles of it, right through the centre of Edinburgh, is only for freight trains.
10:19You know, it's...
10:21And I suppose one argument is Edinburgh hasn't got a really, really good bus service, so potentially it doesn't need the passenger trains to run through there.
10:30But yeah, it always seems like a wasted opportunity.
10:34You're going right through the middle of Morningside and Peffermill.
10:36If you're back in and clear now, you can stop at the L-stop.
10:42That's stopped.
10:48The route that we most commonly drive, because obviously we do take a lot of Scottish exports down south and out to the world,
10:56and so we're very often over the Beatik Hills.
11:00I absolutely adore that part.
11:03You know, it's just...
11:04You're coming round, you can see these cabs are really quite open and light and bright,
11:10so you're flying along the Beatik Hills.
11:13You're admiring the scenery.
11:14I love the north-east as well.
11:16I do that route, and that's a stunning route.
11:18But more commonly, I'm through the Beatik Hills, I'm through the Lake District.
11:23I absolutely love it.
11:24Although, as a train driver, you do have to focus a lot,
11:27you're still able to take in the scenery and everything that you're doing,
11:31and it's a magical feeling.
11:33I often show off to people that, I bet my office view is a bit better than yours,
11:37it changes all the time.
11:39It's magical.
11:40It's one of the best parts of driving trains.
11:42Although all train driving is having an impact, a positive impact on the environment,
11:49freight trains are really, really current.
11:52You know, everybody's interested in doing a job that's going to have a positive impact on our environment,
11:58and there's nothing, there's not a job out there that's got a bigger positive impact on our environment.
12:03You know, we're at times carrying the equivalent of 70 or 80 lorries,
12:07and we've got two electric locals.
12:10You know, we're really as close to net zero as we can be,
12:14and that's a phenomenal feeling.
12:16I'm doing my bit for the economy, and I'm doing my bit for the environment.
12:19These are really the pinnacle of train driving,
12:22in terms of testing yourself as a train driver,
12:25and I would encourage anybody to have a go at freight driving.
12:29It's made me a better driver, without doubt.
12:31I can only go on my own experience, and I've been in the rail industry as a train driver for almost 20 years,
12:37and I can honestly say I've never faced sexism from my colleagues.
12:43Train driving's a really unique role,
12:46and the lovely thing about train driving is
12:48all your colleagues know what you've went through to reach this grade.
12:53They know what you face the in, the out in the job.
12:55And we're so supportive of each other.
12:58I mean, we talk about the railway family, and we are so supportive,
13:02but the train driver niche in particular is so unique
13:05that we really do support each other,
13:08and nobody sees anything other than the fact that you're a train driver.
13:13However, I do know that not everybody's experience is as positive,
13:16so there are still things that we need to improve,
13:19and as an industry, I'm confident that we're doing that.
13:23But for me personally, this is...
13:26I couldn't imagine not having joined the railway.
13:29I've got friends for life, male and female,
13:33and the support I've had, the encouragement I've had since joining the railway
13:37has just been...
13:38It's hard to imagine not being here.
13:41I would encourage anybody to be in the railway.
13:43Traditionally, there are also issues with uniform and facilities,
13:48and it's not intentional.
13:51It's just that if you've only had one type of person using or performing in a role,
13:57you don't actually see it until other people come in.
14:00And I'm pleased to say that there are huge, huge changes occurring in the industry.
14:07In my own company now, we have an entirely female-based uniform
14:11that's been designed for females,
14:13and people might think that that's vanity,
14:17that women want nicer-fitting uniforms.
14:19It's nothing to do with vanity.
14:20It's purely safety.
14:22You don't want gloves that don't fit
14:24when you're trying to do something as safety-critical as coupling up.
14:28You don't want sleeves that get in your way
14:31when you're trying to control a train.
14:33So it's really important that we address things like that,
14:36and I would say that every company in the rail industry now has things like that sorted.
14:42Facilities, they're constantly improving.
14:45The freight world has additional challenges
14:47in the fact that this is our office for a long period of time,
14:52and we don't have toilets in these trains.
14:55And that's not a female-specific problem.
14:58We are encouraging professionals into this industry,
15:01and a professional does not want to find themselves needing the toilet whilst driving a train.
15:04So we are constantly looking at ways to find
15:08that we can provide toilet facilities in more accessible locations.
15:16But for the most part, it's not an issue.
15:18You know, we have personal needs breaks built into diagrams,
15:23and we are an industry that suits so many people.
15:28I've been a primary carer for many years,
15:31and the shifts have actually worked for me.
15:34And I also find an aspect of train driving
15:38that people maybe don't appreciate is
15:41when you do have a lot of responsibilities in your personal life,
15:45this becomes your safe haven.
15:49Because when you come into this cab,
15:50all that matters is here and there.
15:53And it's actually quite therapeutic that whatever problems you've got in your personal life,
15:59when you come in here, you're a train driver.
16:01And some people go for a jog to try and clear their mind.
16:05Coming out and driving a 2,000-ton train is actually pretty therapeutic as well.
16:10You know, it's a really nice way to get away from the outside world.
16:14I think any school leaver should be looking at the railway pretty much before anywhere else,
16:20and it's something I'm really passionate about and I'm so frustrated that we don't.
16:25I think this is one of the few, few industries where you can come in
16:29not really knowing what you want to do as a career.
16:32Because there are so many careers in the railway industry.
16:35People think train driving.
16:37There are hundreds of roles in the railway industry,
16:40whether you want to be in PR, whether you want to be in media,
16:44whether you want to be in communications,
16:47whether you want to be a graphic designer,
16:49whether you want to get involved in artificial intelligence.
16:52This is an entire industry that relies on every type of role,
16:58from finance to HR.
17:00Every role exists within the railway industry.
17:03And once you choose a career, you're not consigned to that.
17:06You can make any move that you want to.
17:08I liken it a bit to when you see the armed forces adverts
17:12and it shows you all the different careers you can have in the armed forces.
17:15You can do that in the rail industry.
17:18They're one of the best paid industries in the United Kingdom.
17:22There isn't a role within the railway that doesn't have good terms and conditions.
17:28You can come in here, you can try out a job.
17:30If it's not for you, you can go and try a different career.
17:32And I think it's also one of the last few remaining industries
17:35that promote from within.
17:38So you can come in at any level of the rail industry
17:41and you can rise to whatever level you want.
17:44So we've got people that have came in on train cleaning teams
17:47and they're directors now.
17:49We bring in people from outside,
17:51but we also recognise what we've got internally.
17:53The sky's the limit in the rail industry.
17:55It really is.
17:56I feel very passionately that it's a great place for people to come.
18:00Because not many people know what they want to do when they leave school.
18:03So come and join the rail industry and see what you like
18:07and be part of this incredible family.
Be the first to comment