DB Cargo UK Trainee Train Driver Guide

Talent pools by region

DB Cargo (UK) Limited recruits new drivers into talent pools, which let you "register your interest" ahead of vacancies rather than apply for a start date. Its adverts posted on 3 October 2025 on Deutsche Bahn’s jobs site covered the East Midlands, based in Nottinghamshire, and West Yorkshire, which named Bradford, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, Ilkley, Keighley, Leeds, New Pudsey, Wakefield, Castleford, Dewsbury and Knottingley. A South Yorkshire pool with the same requirements appeared on a jobs board on 12 October 2025. You must live within a one-hour commute of the "location hub point" you apply to, and DB Cargo says it cannot accept relocation applications.

Yard and terminal first

This is where freight differs most from the passenger companies. A DB Cargo junior driver starts by "train driving within a designated yard or terminal", working towards what the adverts call the UK Train Driving Licence Part A certification. The job also covers locomotive preparation and fuelling, basic fault finding, controlling train movements from the ground and from the locomotive, and responsibility for the Freight Train Working Regulations, Personal Track Safety and traction knowledge. The adverts do not say how long it takes to move on to main line work.

What you need to apply

• At least 21 years old.
• At least nine years of education, primary and secondary.
• GCSE grade C or above in maths and English, or equivalent.
• English to level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
• A full, valid UK driving licence for manual cars.
• Full right to work in the UK: DB Cargo cannot sponsor visas.
• A pass in the Train Driver Psychometric Assessment, and a medical including drug and alcohol testing by an approved provider.

The adverts are short on process. They list the psychometric pass and the medical as requirements but do not set out stages, interviews or an order, and DB Cargo’s careers page sends you to its job portal, which on 5 November 2026 listed no driver vacancies.

Pay and shifts

The adverts offer junior and trainee drivers £35,761 a year, for an average of 32 hours a week worked on annualised hours. DB Cargo runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so shifts include nights, weekends and holiday periods. They do not publish the salary for a qualified main line driver.

The psychometric assessment

The Train Driver Psychometric Assessment is the national battery set by RSSB’s standard RIS-3751-TOM. In The OPC’s 2020 list, "DB Cargo Rail UK" used the national standard, the RSSB minimum, rather than an enhanced one. Our train driver tests page describes every test in the battery; these six can be practised:

• Group Bourdon (Dots Test) (11 minutes, free)
• TEA-Occ Attention (Lift and Directory) (10 minutes)
• TRP2 Dials Reasoning (8 minutes)
• TRP1 Rules and Procedures Memory (21 minutes)
• ATAVT Traffic Perception (6 minutes)
• WAFV Vigilance (Grey Square) (32 minutes)

Results go on a national database and failed attempts count wherever you sat them. Our guide to train driver attempts and standards explains the waits and the lifetime limit.

Common questions

Is a junior driver the same as a trainee driver at DB Cargo?

The adverts use both titles for the same requirements and the same £35,761 salary, and the West Yorkshire "trainee" advert describes the same yard and terminal duties as the East Midlands "junior" one.

Are there other freight companies to apply to?

GB Railfreight recruits trainee drivers too, but asks for a psychometric pass you already hold before you apply.