Ivanna Hearn had been working in England as a nurse when she decided to give it all away and return home to Australia. Bureaucracy and disillusionment with nursing had gotten the better of her and once back in Australia she saw an ad for an unusual job in a country newspaper that made her feel optimistic about what sort of work she could do.
“Aurizon, which is Australia’s largest rail freight operator, was looking for trainee train drivers and I just thought it was something I could do so I applied,” Ivanna says.
“Getting this type of job is pretty competitive as positions only come up once or twice a year. I had to do a mechanical aptitude test to show understanding of how things functioned and I did lots of practice exams. I think having prior exposure to shift work probably helped but in saying that, nothing really prepares you for a job like this.”
Ivanna has now been a train driver for 13 years and is one of only four female drivers at the Albany Port depot. She says being able to handle an ever-changing roster is important as each work shift can literally start at any hour of the day. It could be 1am in the morning or 10pm at night and the shifts are between eight to 12 hours long.
Starting work in the middle of the night can be hard but it’s when Ivanna climbs up into the cab that the real work begins as she’s in control of a massive freight train that’s nearly one kilometre long. The train’s load is freshly cut grain collected from various stations in WA’s Wheatbelt region and the round trip between the Albany Port and the Wheatbelt can be up to 10 hours long as the loaded train only travels at 60kms per hour.
“You have to be constantly alert because what’s happening in the cab where you are is very different to what’s happening 900 metres behind you. You have to know the track well, its grades and where the crossings and stations are, so the driving part is quite mentally taxing. The train does automatically follow the track but the driver is responsible for controlling speed and braking.”
Thankfully there’s always a second person in the cab so there’s two sets of eyes keeping a look out and Ivanna says she’s always shocked at how drivers disregard the train crossings.
“I’ve had a lot of close calls with cars taking on the crossing and thinking they can beat the train but I’ve been fortunate to have never hit anyone. The most common comment from car drivers when there is an impact is that they’d never seen a train on the track line before so they thought it okay to cross without looking. Let me tell you… if there’s a track, there’s a train!”
Ivanna stresses that the train’s braking system is “fantastic” but with 900 metres of wagons behind the cab it still takes much longer to stop than people think. But none of these things tarnish Ivanna’s love for her job. The pay is great, she gets time off when she needs it and she loves seeing kids on the side of the road waving as she passes. She also says the views from her elevated “office window” are pretty darn special. Vast landscapes, spectacular sunrises and sunsets and all manner of wildlife.
“The people you work with are brilliant too. I love working with them all. When you’re just two people in a train cab you get to know each other pretty well. There’s lots of chatter and gossiping and that’s not just from the females. There’s a definite push to get more female drivers and there’s ?no physical reason why a female can’t do the job.”
Ivanna adds that female drivers bring a different philosophy to the job and are perhaps a bit more cautious.
“Don’t get me wrong, men have their benefits too but I think having women on the job does improve the workplace.”
Ivanna also says train driving is ideal for someone who’s willing to try something completely different.
“Driving a train is totally unique and I have no intention of giving it up any time soon.”
