The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that eighteen-year-olds will be allowed to drive trains as the government has lowered the ages from 20 amid a shortage of drivers.
The strict driver training requirements and qualifications needed and safety standards will not change.
The DfT said they undertook a consultation to lower the minimum age and the government received an “overwhelming support from across the industry.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said that they are “future-proofing” the rail network as “delays and cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers”.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, said, “At the moment, young people who want to become train drivers leave school or college at 18, get other jobs, and we miss out as an industry as they don’t wait around until they turn 20 to find a career.”
