Virgin drivers are amongst the best paid in the industry, most drivers earn between 35 and 45k. Im not diminishing the job of an airline pilot but train drivers have to be concentrating 100% of the time as they dont have the luxury of an autopilot to do a large proportion of their job for them. They also work alone, long gone are the days of having 2 drivers, and therefore cant put their feet up and grab 40 winks during the course of their journey.