Conductor (rail)


A conductor, guard, or travelling ticket examiner, is a member of a train crew responsible for operational and safety duties. The role is common worldwide under various job titles, although on many railroads, the role has been discontinued. The title conductor is most common in North America, Australia and most other English-speaking countries outside of Great Britain and India, where the title is guard or travelling ticket examiner, respectively.
The responsibilities of the role typically include:
  • Ensuring that the train follows applicable safety rules and practices
  • Making sure that the train stays on schedule starting from the stations
  • Opening and closing power operated doors
  • Selling and checking tickets, and other customer-service duties
  • Ensuring that any cars and cargo are picked up and dropped off properly
  • Completing en-route paperwork
  • Directing the train's movement while operating in reverse
  • Coupling or uncoupling cars
  • Assisting with setting out or picking up rolling stock
Some rapid-transit systems employ conductors to make announcements and open and close doors, duties otherwise performed by train drivers. The conductors often stay in the center of the train, where they have the best view of the platform. However, most rapid-transit systems are driver-only-operated.

Commuter and freight trains in North America

In North America, the conductor manages a freight, passenger, or other type of train, and directly supervises the train crew, which can include a brakeman, flagman, ticket collector, assistant conductor, and on-board service personnel, and is responsible for the movement of the train. The engineer takes direction from the conductor. The portman, and additional engine crew members share responsibility for safe and efficient train operation and adherence to railway rules and procedures. On some railroads, union contracts specify that a conductor must progress to engineer.
Other duties carried out by the conductor include:
  • Jointly coordinate with the engineer and dispatcher the train's movement authority, and verifying this authority is not exceeded
  • Communicate and coordinate with other parties—yardmasters, trainmasters, dispatchers, on board service personnel, etc
  • Be alert to wayside signals, switch position, and other conditions that affect safe train movement
  • Mechanically inspect rolling stock
  • Assist the engineer in testing the train's air brakes
  • Signal the engineer when to start or stop moving
  • Keep a log of the journey
  • Check tickets and collect fares on passenger trains
  • Keep records of consignment notes and waybills
  • Direct, coordinate, and usually manually perform, shunting or switching
Passenger trains may employ one or more brakemen/assistant conductors who assist the conductor and engineer in the safe and prompt movement of the train, to share the workload, and accept delegated responsibility. If a train crew's route, or tour of duty, exceeds a single shift, or conflicts with a legal or contractual limit on the number of work hours, more than one crew may be assigned, each with his own brakeman/assistant conductor. On-board service crew members on passenger trains normally remain on duty for the entire run, including assigned meal and sleep breaks.
Since nearly the beginning of railroading in North America, the conductor on freight trains rode aboard a caboose, along with the rear flagman and the rear brakeman, and performed duties from there. Advances in technology and pressure to reduce operating costs made cabooses redundant, and in most cases, they have been eliminated. This relocated the conductor from the rear of the train to the locomotive at the head of the train. In most cases, these same conditions gradually eliminated members of the train crew, such as the head brakemen, flagmen, and others.
Most freight trains on most railroads today have a crew of two, one engineer and one conductor. Railroad companies continue to press for reduced operating and labor costs, and this threatens to eliminate second men. Railroads rationalize that since the engineer is already qualified as a conductor, he can easily assume the duties of a conductor. In fact, on most railroads, engineers begin as brakemen, then become conductors, and finally engineers. Some railroads already implement such a strategy, notably the Montana Rail Link, and operate with an engineer and a conductor. However, most railroads are contractually obligated to employ a brakeman/assistant conductor in addition to the engineer, via crew-consist agreements negotiated with the major rail unions, primarily the United Transportation Union. Therefore, eliminating the conductor's position would require that the railroads and unions negotiate a new agreement. If the railroads were successful, conductors already trained and certified as engineers would theoretically be able to work as engineers. Those who have not yet progressed to engineer would have to be trained as engineers as positions became available. Others would have to accept other positions or possibly lose their jobs. The primary union for engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, does not support this movement, claiming that requiring its members to operate trains alone would be unsafe.

Remote control locomotives

By the late 1990s, remote-control locomotives were increasingly popular on North American railroads for switching duties in rail yards. This system allows the conductor to directly control the locomotive via a wireless remote unit, as opposed to radioing commands to an engineer in the cab. Some Class I rail yards use RCO packs for their conductors, while others do not, depending on the size and type of yard. Class I railroads train conductors on the use of RCO packs with classroom and hands-on instruction, culminating with on-the-job training and certification as an RCO operator. Currently, Class I railroads such as Norfolk Southern require RCO-qualified conductors to work from job boards that perform RCO operations exclusively.

Train hosts

As no explicit federal requirement exists for a two-person train crew in the United States, the Utah Transit Authority originally planned their FrontRunner service to be operated by an operator only, with revenue collected by a proof-of-payment system. Before operation began, the FRA required FrontRunner to employ a second crewmember on each train to assist with emergency evacuation, disabled access, and other safety-sensitive situations. FrontRunner classified this job as a "train host", with a focus on customer service rather than railroad operations. Some other services, such as Amtrak's Downeaster, also use train hosts to assist the assistant conductor with nonrevenue-related customer-service duties.

Subway trains in North America

In subway trains, the conductor's basic duties are:
  • Verifying train alignment on the platform
  • Opening and closing the train doors
  • Making announcements
  • Observing the platform during departure.

    Greater Boston

All heavy rail trains in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operate with two-person crews consisting of a motorman and a conductor. The conductor is located in the cab of the second-last car of the train. When a train arrives at a station, the conductor opens the doors using cab controls. Two sets of controls are provided on each side of the cab for this purpose. The two door zone are one set of controls operating the doors in the conductor's car and the doors forward of that car, and the other set of controls operating the doors to the rear of the conductor's car. When passengers have completed boarding or exiting, the conductor looks forward and closes the doors forward of their cab. This process is repeated for the doors to the rear of the conductor's cab. A door chime is used to notify the passengers that the doors are closing.

New York City

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority transit system operates trains using two-person crews consisting of a motorman and conductor. The conductor is located in the middle of the train and is responsible for opening the doors and closing them. When a train arrives at a station, the conductor verifies the train alignment on the platform by observing a black-and-white "zebra board" mounted to the platform wall or ceiling. When a train is aligned properly, the six-foot-long zebra board should be located directly opposite of the conductor's cab.
Before opening the doors, the train conductors are to open the cab window and point to the zebra board with their index fingers to confirm the stop position to the motorman. The doors, operated from a control panel located on the appropriate side of the car, are opened once the alignment verification is made. Like MBTA, two separate controls are used for the doors, those forward of the conductor and those to the rear of the conductor.
After the doors are opened, the conductors stick their heads out the window to observe passenger boarding and exiting. The doors stay open for at least 10 seconds, and when the conductor decides to close the doors, the conductor announces a door-closing warning using a public address system on the train. When the platform is clear, the conductor closes the doors in the rear cars. When a locked-door signal is received, the conductor closes the doors in the forward section of the train. Door chimes warn passengers that the doors are closing. When all the doors are closed, the conductor removes the door key, which alerts the motorman that proceeding is safe.
As the train departs the station, the conductor observes the platform for a distance of three car lengths. Station departure observations are made to ensure that no passenger or item is trapped between the doors and is dragged along the platform. The conductor is required to observe the forward and rear cars at least twice during these observations.