Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to support the recruitment and retention of train drivers.

The Department is not responsible for the recruitment and retention of train drivers. The train operating companies, as employers, are responsible for ensuring there are adequate number of train drivers to suit their operational functions.

Train operators incentivise the continued recruitment of train drivers by offering salaries to qualified drivers that are well above UK average full-time earnings. To give some examples of train driver recruitment which is currently underway, Avanti West Coast (AWC) is undertaking unprecedented levels of annual recruitment, with plans underway to recruit approximately 70 trainee or qualified drivers in each year, over the next few years. Over 100 additional drivers have entered formal service since April 2022 in AWC. Further to recent recruitment drives, Northern Rail currently have 136 drivers in training.

Despite the industry presenting ASLEF with a reasonable two-year pay deal in return for necessary reforms, ASLEF’s leadership declined the offer. This pay rise would have taken some train driver salaries to c. £65000. We continue to encourage ASLEF to present the industry's fair proposal to its members, within the train operating companies, to allow them to have a say on their future.