Meet the Scottish woman who drives Freightliner trains nearly a mile long - taking 60 lorries off the road
“I couldn’t imagine not having joined the railway”, says Heather Waugh
She drives trains up to three quarters of a mile long that carry as much as 60 lorries - and faster than they can travel on the motorway.
It is not surprising that Heather Waugh loves her job. "It has been the most rewarding years of my career,” she told The Scotsman. “I'm so proud to take Scottish produce like whisky to the world.”
Welcome to the little-known world of rail freight, a sector that operates from huge, but hidden away terminals, centred on a cluster in North Lanarkshire near the cross-Border west coast main line.
Each shipping container, which can be transferred between road, rail and sea, is a lorry load, yet freight trains can transport them faster, at 75mph.
Ms Waugh, who has been a driver with Freightliner since 2019, hauls a wide range of cargo such as produce for supermarkets, but is not told what is in the containers unless it is flammable.
She said: “My mum is continually horrified when she sees the length of the trains and finds out I’m the only person on it and thinks I’m going to be lonely. I enjoy the fact I’m entrusted with the biggest and the most powerful trains in the UK.
“If you are an extrovert and love being in other people’s company all the time, this probably isn’t the job for you. But if you are quite happy with your own company and calm under pressure, then this is the best feeling in the world - it’s so empowering.”
Ms Waugh, who was a ScotRail driver for 12 years before joining Freightliner, said the roles were very different because of the far greater weight of freight trains. She made the switch because of the attractive shift patterns.
She said: “Passenger trains aren’t that hard to start and stop, but freight trains are really technical. You need to know the weight of your train, the gradients, when to brake and when to accelerate - you really need to forward think.
“I compare it to taking your car out for a run - in the city centre, it’s going to take a lot of concentration, but it might not be as enjoyable. Sometimes that’s like passenger [train] driving when you have got a lot of stations.
“But if you take your car out into the country, you have to technically drive it far more, but it’s a more enjoyable experience. That’s a bit like what freight train driving is like.
“The route we most commonly drive, because we take a lot of Scottish exports south, is over the Beattock hills [on the west coast main line]. I absolutely adore that part. You fly along, admiring the scenery.
‘Driving a 2,000 tonne train is pretty therapeutic’
“I often show off to people that I bet my office view is a bit better than theirs. It changes all the time, it’s magical. It’s one of the best parts of driving trains.
“I lose a bit of tolerance when driving cars - you do not get potholes, road rage and rush hours on the railways.
“I’ve been a primary carer for many years and the shifts have worked for me. When you have a lot of responsibilities in your personal life, this becomes your safe haven because all that matters is here [the cab] and there [she points through the window].
“Some people go for a jog to try to clear their mind, but driving a 2,000-tonne train is actually pretty therapeutic as well. It’s a really nice way to get away from the outside world.”
The west coast main line includes stretches beside the M74 motorway, which highlight rail freight’s green credentials as her train leaves slower lorries in its wake.
Ms Waugh said: “Although all train driving is having a positive impact on the environment, there’s nothing out there that’s having as big an impact.
“We are at times carrying the equivalent of 70 or 80 lorries with two electric locos, as close to net zero as we can be, and that’s a phenomenal feeling. I’m doing my bit for the economy and I’m doing my bit for the environment.
“It’s the proudest it’s ever been in my career, knowing I’m making a difference. Rail carries less than 10 per cent of freight, but it’s not rail versus road. We will always need lorries, but they should be doing the ‘final mile’.”
‘Nobody sees anything than the fact you are a train driver’
Ms Waugh, who is one of few female freight train drivers in Britain and the only one in Scotland, said she had never suffered discrimination. She said working conditions were improving for women.
“I have been driver for 20 years and I can honestly say I have never faced sexism from my colleagues,” she said. “Train driving is a unique role and the lovely thing is all your colleagues know what you’ve went through to reach this grade.
“I couldn’t imagine not having joined the railway - I’ve got friends for life. We are so supportive of each other. We talk about the ‘railway family’. Nobody sees anything than the fact you are a train driver.
‘It’s purely for safety’
“However, I know that not everybody’s experience is as positive, so there are still things we need to improve and as an industry I’m confident we are doing that.
“Traditionally, there have been issues with uniform and [toilet] facilities, and it’s not intentional. It’s just if you’ve only had one type of person performing a role, you don’t actually see it until other people come in.
“For my own company, we have a uniform designed for females. People might say that’s vanity that women want nicer fitting uniforms, but it’s purely for safety.
“You don’t want gloves that don’t fit when you are trying to do something as safety critical as coupling up. You don’t want sleeves that get in your way when you are trying to control a train. So it’s really important we address things like that.”
‘I will have to remember to stop at stations’
Ms Waugh received development organisation everywoman’s Woman of the Year award in June for her “extraordinary dedication to the industry” in promoting rail freight in schools and at events in her own time.
She said: “Any school leaver should be looking at the railway, pretty much before anywhere else. Something I’m really passionate about is that this is one of the few industries where you can come in not really knowing what you want to do as a career, because there are hundreds of roles, and it’s one of the best paid in the UK.”
Ms Waugh is leaving for a new role training drivers for passenger operator Lumo’s new Stirling to London route, which starts next spring.
She said: “I have family challenges and I’ll have a more static roster with fewer night shifts so I can be home a bit more, and it’s quite exciting to be part of something new.”
But she jokingly added: “I will miss Freightliner and will have to remember to stop at stations.”
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