Rail Line Mechanic and Maintenance Jobs

Like highways and roadways that crisscross the country from all angles, railway lines are everywhere. Many run through urban areas as well as rural areas and connect every part of the country.

Getting passengers and freight from one area to another several hundred times every day isn’t an easy task.

It takes an army of trained and skilled workers to ensure that the trains not only leave and arrive on time, but also stay moving. This responsibility falls to the repair and maintenance workers who see to it that the train engines and cars operate as efficiently as possible and that any repairs are completed quickly and properly.

Overview of Rail Maintenance Positions

Maintenance workers, Track maintainers and Railway Mechanics make sure that the trains run on time and in perfect working order.

Because many rail lines operate through remote rural areas, having a train break down and needing repairs out in the middle of nowhere would cost the railroad company a lot of time and money. That’s why Train Maintenance Workers are so essential to the continued operation of the trains. Maintenance workers are responsible for checking all mechanical systems on engines and cars to make sure that repair procedures aren’t required. Should any repairs be needed, the maintenance workers work with the Railway Mechanics to schedule the repairs as soon as possible.

Train Maintenance Workers can earn up to $22.40 an hour depending on the company they’re working for.

Railway Mechanics do all the mechanical repair work that’s required on each train engine and the cars it hauls.

Some mechanics are responsible for many trains while others have only one or two to take care of and keep running. Railway Mechanics generally work as part of a team that can include other mechanics, apprentices and technicians that are responsible for other aspects of the repair and testing work.

Railway Mechanics can earn as much as $27.45 an hour, again, depending on the company worked for and the area of the country the work is in.