Steve Bowdidge, Driver, EWS Network

From childhood, when you consider a job in the railway industry the premier job is definitely to be a driver. Steve Bowdidge is a driver of some 20 years' experience and currently employed by EWS Network – a subsidiary of EWS, the largest freight operator in the UK. "I have been with EWS since it was formed around 1996," says Steve.

Why choose to become a railway driver?

At an early age Steve decided he was interested in railways and realised that was what he wanted to do as a career. "Railways were all I was interested in, my family lived near Clapham Junction and I suppose this is what made me decide to become a driver."

How did he get into the railway industry?

Steve entered a youth training scheme in 1987 with what was then British Rail. "The training scheme was excellent, giving me a good grounding in all aspects of railway systems," he says. "I worked in a signal box for nine months as well as in the yard preparing trains and on the engineering side. I think the most important thing is to gain experience and to really learn which job you want to do.

"Today's training schemes (particularly the apprenticeships run by Network Rail) are similar, although obviously it depends what you would like to do as rail is a very diverse industry. There are a lot of opportunities for graduates and apprentices doing signalling, track installations, signal testing, design, civil engineering, surveying and many other things, including driving."

Steve now runs freight trains from the Didcot depot down towards Eastleigh near Southampton. He believes EWS to have a good structure for setting out the work drivers have to do, using a set roster.

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