Originally Posted by
Train_Driver
Therefore the best advice I can offer your mate is to keep his eyes peeled on the Sydney Trains (or other relevant state rail operator) website and to apply for ANY entry level vacancies that may occur. Once he is in the organisation, he'll be able to apply for the role of Driver as it comes around, and will also then have a better understanding of how the railway works.
Furthermore, all of the above relates to my experiences within a government passenger transport organisation. The freight side of things is a whole different kettle of fish yet again, which I am by no means qualified to comment on.
As for the RAA licence, I can't say I've heard much about it, but I suppose I'll have to do my research. I do intend to gain a PPL In the long term, however I feel that it makes logical sense to break that endeavour down into small, bite sized chunks, by attempting to attain an RPL aka GFPT in the short term.
To cover the freight side of things, there are no longer any government-owned freight trains in Australia. Except maybe Tasmania, but they don't count.
The major freight players are Pacific National, Aurizon, Genessee Wyoming Australia, Freightliner and QUBE. SCT also run their own trains, but AIUI they are actually crewed by GWA. The Indian Pacific/Overland/Ghan are all crewed by PN, with the passenger staff employed by Great Southern Rail.
To get a start with one of these companies, look at their websites and also on seek for "Trainee Locomotive Driver" or "Trainee Driver" advertisements. When I left PN over 5 years ago a Coal driver was on around $85,000, so is likely on around $95-100K, with no overtime included. Freightliner usually pays a little more than PN, Aurizon usually pays a little less in the Southern states, and quite a bit more on the Qld coalies.
After around 5-6 weeks in the classroom, you'll spend another week or two out as a third-person and then you'll be out on your own as a Driver's Assistant/Observer/Fireman when you'll
really start learning your job. Yu can expect to be a Driver in your own right after 2-3 years depending on the company and the depot.