Our signalmen perform one of the most important roles on the railway. They are responsible for every train movement within their control area, as well as the safety of our passengers and staff, they ensure the safe passage of our trains over the single track sections of our line.

As a signalman you are a guardian of our passengers’ safety and are responsible for ensuring our rules & safety standards are adhered to both when the railway is running normally and if there is disruption or failures of trains or equipment. This calls for someone who is calm, methodical, analytical and able to make decisions accurately after proper consideration. Accurate record keeping and event recording are also an essential part of the role so good written communication skills are a must.

The role of signalman is a safety critical position which will require you to pass a basic medical examination to establish you have good hearing, eyesight and normal colour perception.

You will need good concentration skills, there will be times when there is not much happening but you still need to maintain your attention. At other times there can be a great deal of activity, both planned and unplanned, when you will need to be able to focus on the detail and make sure your role is performed safely and correctly. In most cases you will be the only one in your signal box so you will need to be able to assess situations and think through the outcome of your actions, sometimes whilst under pressure and be able to safely resolve any issues.

All of our signal boxes are operated using mechanical heritage equipment therefore they do require a minimum level of physical fitness to operate, but this should be no problem for the average ‘healthy’ person.