It was still pitch black on December 15, 2009 at the Linz-Wegscheid train station when Petra Irauschek started work at four in the morning and was allowed to drive a locomotive for the first time in her life. All alone, without anyone looking over your shoulder. “It was the day after my birthday and I was really excited,” she remembers: “And everything went well the first time I moved.” The freight wagons are put together with a shunting locomotive.
Originally, the native of Amstetten, who graduated from HLW, wanted to become a pilot: “But then I found out that a lot of train drivers were wanted.” So she went with us – and lost her heart to the locomotives instead of the planes. “This feeling of transporting people and goods from A to B with 10,000 hp is unique.” Apprentices are trained at the ÖBB, but also career changers can become train drivers. The prerequisite is a completed apprenticeship (which does not matter) or a Matura. Anyone who is at least 20 years old is allowed to drive alone.
Who is suitable for the job? “Anyone interested is welcome.” Night trips are just as much a part of it as weekend and holiday services.
Irauschek is one of 150 ÖBB train drivers. 32 are in training – far too few, as the 34-year-old mother of three children aged 7, 4 and 2, who is currently working part-time, thinks. Women are just as suitable. She does not accept the argument that certain activities are too physically strenuous: Women can also couple well, i.e. attach a locomotive.
Stressful is part of it
Petra Irauschek has been stationed in Linz since the beginning of her career, travels within Upper Austria to Salzburg, Passau, Summerau and Vienna. Before a train leaves the departure station, every train driver is obliged to take an outside tour and check that everything fits. Knowledge of the route is important. “And you have a great responsibility,” says the 34-year-old. “We are only human and must not allow ourselves to be distracted.” The job of a train driver can also be stressful: it is rare for a person to be run over, but it does happen. Those who need them are entitled to care. And if you no longer want to drive after a suicide incident, you no longer have to control a locomotive.
So that there are also young train drivers, Petra Irauschek has been working as a train driver since 2018: She trains prospective employees and offers further training for colleagues, for example when there are new regulations.
“I particularly like exchanging ideas with others. 20-year-olds as well as 40-year-olds begin the training. It complements each other perfectly.”
Source: Nachrichten
