Train Driver Salary in Scotland
Official ONS earnings for Scotland.
Median salary — Scotland
£70,367
gross, per year, all employees
▲ 19.8% change on the previous year
Mean
£71,131
What a typical train driver takes home
On the median of £70,367, 2026/27 tax year, Scottish rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£4,118
Take-home a year
£49,413
Income Tax
£17,536
National Insurance
£3,418
What most train drivers actually earn
Half of train drivers across the UK earn between £63,585 and £81,905. Earning above £81,905 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
This range is UK-wide — ONS publishes no regional breakdown of the spread for this occupation.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of train drivers earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Train and tram drivers
- SOC 2020 code
- 8231
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 16.5% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank Scotland against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Train Driver salary FAQs
What is the average Train Driver salary in Scotland?
The median is £70,367 a year and the mean is £71,131, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a train driver earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £38.97 excluding overtime. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for Scotland.
What is a good Train Driver salary?
Half of train drivers earn between £63,585 and £81,905. Anything above £81,905 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a train driver?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of train drivers earn under £41,998 and the lowest quarter under £63,585 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
Do train drivers in Scotland earn more than the UK average?
The median in Scotland is £70,367 against £76,176 across the UK, 7.6% lower. ONS marks the Scotland figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has train driver pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +19.8% for this occupation in Scotland. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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