Rail Car Repairers
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul railroad rolling stock, mine cars, or mass transit rail cars.
21,350 people do this job in the US. $67,530 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 3%
- 0%
- 97%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remove locomotives, car mechanical units, or other components, using pneumatic hoists and jacks, pinch bars, hand tools, and cutting torches.Done daily by most who do it. | 19% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace defective or worn parts such as bearings, pistons, and gears, using hand tools, torque wrenches, power tools, and welding equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Paint car exteriors, interiors, and fixtures.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 16% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Perform scheduled maintenance, and clean units and components.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair, fabricate, and install steel or wood fittings, using blueprints, shop sketches, and instruction manuals.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect components such as bearings, seals, gaskets, wheels, and coupler assemblies to determine if repairs are needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Align car sides for installation of car ends and crossties, using width gauges, turnbuckles, and wrenches.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect the interior and exterior of rail cars coming into rail yards to identify defects and to determine the extent of wear and damage.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Adjust repaired or replaced units as needed to ensure proper operation.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Test units for operability before and after repairs.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair and maintain electrical and electronic controls for propulsion and braking systems.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine car roofs for wear and damage, and repair defective sections, using roofing material, cement, nails, and waterproof paint.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists0% now, 0% by 2028
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics4% now, 4% by 2028
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines5% now, 5% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers8% now, 9% by 2028
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery7% now, 7% by 2028
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).