Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
Operate or monitor railroad track switches or locomotive instruments. May couple or uncouple rolling stock to make up or break up trains. Watch for and relay traffic signals. May inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and hand brakes. May watch for dragging equipment or obstacles on rights-of-way.
12,400 people do this job in the US. $68,840 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 7%
- 0%
- 93%
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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 7%. Today's estimate: 7%.
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 . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inspect tracks, cars, and engines for defects and to determine service needs, sending engines and cars for repairs as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 23% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and handbrakes to ensure that they are securely fastened and functioning properly.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 10% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Conduct brake tests to determine the condition of brakes on trains.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate and drive locomotives, diesel switch engines, dinkey engines, flatcars, and railcars in train yards and at industrial sites.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Make minor repairs to couplings, air hoses, and journal boxes, using hand tools.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Receive oral or written instructions from yardmasters or yard conductors indicating track assignments and cars to be switched.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min3 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Climb ladders to tops of cars to set brakes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect locomotives to detect damaged or worn parts.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 33 min13 min to 58 min | Stays with people | |
| Record numbers of cars available, numbers of cars sent to repair stations, and types of service needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Observe train signals along routes and verify their meanings for engineers.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | 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.
- Locomotive Engineers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers12% now, 12% by 2028
- Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters32% now, 33% by 2028
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists0% now, 0% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers4% now, 4% 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).