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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent

Minimum age for train drivers to be lowered to 18 in Great Britain

A young man operates the controls of a commuter train on the Tarka Valley railway in Devon.
The Department for Transport said the change could lead to teenage applicants being recruited from December. Photograph: Mypurgatoryyears/Getty Images

If train drivers – like police officers – start looking younger, it may not just be you. Britain’s trains could soon have 18-year-olds in the cab, with the government likely to cut the minimum age to plug a shortage of drivers.

Currently train drivers can obtain a licence from the age of 20 – although the vast majority of drivers are much older.

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