Dream job: train driver – Alberto Giuriola on his passion: the railroads

We talked to Alberto about his passion, train driving and the railroad:

My dream job came true when I was 19 years old. I knew from the time I was a little boy that I wanted to work for the railroads one day and be in the driver's cab of a train, transporting passengers or goods weighing tons. At the beginning of my career as a locomotive driver* at Rail Cargo Carrier-Italy, an Italian subsidiary of ÖBB Rail Cargo Group, I came straight from school.

During the one-year training, you gain driving experience on the traction unit simulator and learn everything you need to know about driving a train, such as safety regulations.

The time I spent working as a train driver was great and full of variety, but it was intense and I remember it fondly as I prepared for the mission, yes, because it is a mission! After all, you have to make sure that you are well prepared before going on duty, so that you can react quickly to the unpredictable at any time.

The transport of goods and people is a journey, just like our lives, always towards a goal that seems so close and sometimes so unattainable, between very many challenges and even more motivation, because you have found the strength and the desire to go forward to finally arrive at the destination!

Being on duty 365 days a year

Being awake again and again when others are asleep, there is no difference between day and night, because the flow of goods never stands still. You encounter many landscapes at different times of the day, linked by sunrises and sunsets, and all united by those long, almost endless, ubiquitous rails.

*Alberto was co-train driver, meaning he was traveling with an even more experienced train driver.

Besides the "power" you feel while sitting in a locomotive and guiding goods weighing tons or having responsibility for hundreds of people, the salary is also attractive and that you have several days off in a row. In addition, within a short period of time you have the opportunity to improve your skills and complete additional training.

I am always looking for new challenges. That's why I moved to Venice Mestre, the headquarters of Rail Cargo Carrier-Italy, some time ago and work there as a dispatcher, where I keep train traffic under control.

I also have a lot going on in my private life. I love sports, especially cycling is one of my passions, particularly now that I don't get through so many landscapes by train anymore. Moreover, since a few months I am a father of a little daughter, who now shows me a new side of life.

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Find out more about train driver training here.

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