José Ramón Palacios remembers his first time driving an AVE train: it was during Easter, with more than 600 passengers on board. He had spent over 15 years working his way through lower-category trains, including six years as a driver’s assistant. Today, aspiring train drivers typically complete a course lasting 10 to 12 months before seeking work, rather than following the longer progression he experienced, according to the account given to ABC.
Palacios says the job requires practice as well as theory. He spent more than a decade gaining experience before taking charge of an AVE, while staffing pressures have reduced the time available for training and mentoring new drivers.
Vicente Almenar, UGT’s national rail-driving representative, describes an earlier route through the railway sappers, which involved three years of training: two years of theory and one of practical work. That system ended with the professionalization of the military and the end of compulsory military service. Renfe later established its own training centre, with a 10-month course, and private schools subsequently emerged.
The shift came amid a shortage of replacements for retiring drivers. Palacios recalls that recruitment in the 1990s and early 2000s failed to keep pace with generational turnover, leaving an ageing workforce and a cluster of retirements. Almenar says the former three-year pathway has effectively been compressed into about one year. Initial training at Renfe includes around 250 hours of practical driving in real conditions, he says; private centres may provide fewer.
The Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition says drivers take an average of 12 to 15 months to obtain the permissions needed to operate a train. Training is delivered by centres approved by the Spanish Railway Safety Agency. Courses lasting 10 to 12 months cost around €23,000 and include a licence and diploma, awarded after an agency examination. Where Renfe or military service were once the only routes into the cab, there are now more than 20 approved private schools.
A licence and diploma do not qualify a new driver to operate an AVE immediately. Drivers also need certificates covering particular trains, routes and the operator’s safety system. Applicants must pass recruitment processes at Renfe or private operators such as Iryo and Ouigo, including theoretical tests and simulator driving assessments. Assignment to high-speed services depends on the operator and the certificates held; at Renfe, seniority also plays a role.
Palacios supports restoring a longer period of mentoring alongside experienced drivers and having newcomers gain experience on freight and commuter services before moving to high-speed trains. UGT is calling for a regulated three-year qualification; a proposal developed with Spain’s National Institute of Qualifications did not proceed. Almenar and Palacios both point to the reduced practical element of today’s training as a concern, with Palacios arguing that responding to incidents requires experience built through daily work.
Sources: Motorpasión.