Tram Driver CV Examples & Writing Guide

A CV for a driver with eight years in public transport, four driving buses and four driving trams. The name and employers are invented. Note how the safety and attendance record sits at the top, since those are the two things a tram operator screens on before anything else.

Tram driving jobs are filled through a formal recruitment process, often with a union-recognised workforce and a long training course. The screening is different from a private haulage job, and it is very consistent.

• Driving licence and background. A clean UK driving licence with few or no points over recent years, no recent serious offences, and the ability to pass background checks and drug and alcohol testing. Tram driving is safety-critical work, so testing continues throughout your career, not just at hiring.
• Attendance. Trams run to a timetable, and a driver who goes sick at short notice leaves a service uncovered. Put your attendance percentage or a plain statement about missed shifts on the CV. Very few candidates do, and it stands out.
• Safety record in the right words. Preventable collisions, passenger injuries, signals passed at danger, rules reassessment results. If you come from bus driving, give the same figures for buses.
• Willingness to work the shifts that exist. New drivers get spare turns, split shifts, earlies, lates, weekends and bank holidays for years. Saying yes to that in the header is a genuine advantage.

“We can teach anyone to run the train. What we cannot teach is showing up at four in the morning for six years and never cutting a corner. Attendance and a clean record get you into the class; the rules exam keeps you there.”

The duties are set by the rule book, so everyone has the same list. Make yours specific with the line, the trams, the passenger numbers and the safety record.

Two or three lines: years and trams, the line and passenger volume, safety record, availability. Use a career objective if you are applying for a trainee post without tram experience.

Ten to fourteen skills. Driving and safety skills first, passenger skills second, and shift flexibility stated plainly at the end.

• Driving: tram handling, coupled units, braking and stop work, platform gap and door operation, depot moves, coupling and uncoupling, driving in mixed street traffic and on segregated track.
• Rules and signals: the operator's rule book, tram signals, speed restrictions and worksites, priority at junctions and crossings, notices and special instructions, degraded and single-line working.
• Safety: pre-service and end-of-service checks, brake and door tests, trackside safety, emergency evacuation, incident reporting, level crossing and pedestrian awareness.
• Passengers: accessibility and assisted boarding, announcements, fare questions, crowd management on event days, de-escalation.
• Communication: radio procedure with the control room, incident reporting to supervisors, working with the police and emergency services.
• Availability, which is a skill in this industry: spare turns, split shifts, earlies, lates, weekends, bank holidays, and driving in snow, heavy rain and heat.

Tram driver requirements are set by each operator, so they vary more than most driving jobs. What follows is the common pattern on UK networks, but read the advert and the operator's own careers page before you apply.

• Age and record: a minimum age set by the operator, a full UK driving licence with a clean or near-clean record over a set number of years, no disqualifying criminal record, and the ability to pass background checks.
• Drug and alcohol testing: tram driving is safety-critical work, with pre-employment, random and post-incident testing, and legal drink and drug limits apply to drivers on duty.
• Licence: tram driving competence comes from the operator's own training and assessment rather than a DVLA licence category. Many operators ask for a full car licence, and a PCV (category D) licence with bus experience strengthens an application. Check the advert.
• Operator training: trainee tram driver courses typically run several weeks of classroom rules study plus supervised cab time, ending in assessments and a competence you keep current through regular reassessment. Some operators fill trainee places from bus drivers and other internal staff first.
• Medical and physical standards: a safety-critical medical with eyesight and hearing standards, colour vision for signal recognition, and the ability to stay seated and alert for long periods.
• Useful extras on a CV: Emergency First Aid at Work, conflict management or customer service training, trackside safety training, and any language spoken by passengers in your city.

Very few people walk into a tram cab with no driving background. A common route is bus driving first, then applying for a trainee tram driver post with a few years of clean record behind you. Operators do recruit from outside public transport too, so it is worth applying either way.

1. 1Apply as a bus driver if your city's tram and bus operators recruit from each other, and say in your cover letter that trams are your goal. Operators like drivers who plan to stay.
2. 2Header: licence categories, clean licence, Driver CPC if held, and a plain statement that you will work spare turns, splits, earlies, lates, weekends and bank holidays.
3. 3Two-line career objective naming the trainee tram driver role, your driving years and accident-free record.
4. 4Work history with the numbers a tram operator respects: miles driven, passengers carried, accident and offence history, attendance percentage, months without a missed shift.
5. 5Show the passenger side, since most of the job is people: any work dealing with the public, resolving complaints, handling intoxicated or distressed customers, or speaking a second language.
6. 6Add training you can complete in advance: Emergency First Aid at Work, a customer service or conflict management course, and a defensive driving course.

• One to two pages, and one is often enough. Tram operator hiring is process-driven and your CV is read alongside a long online application form.
• Fill in the online application completely, even where it repeats the CV. Operators score applications against the advertised requirements, and a blank field can screen you out before a person reads anything.
• Order: name, licences and availability, personal statement, driving or transport jobs newest first with the safety and attendance figures, skills, certificates, education.
• Plain single column, standard font, no photo, no date of birth. Operators use online applicant tracking systems, and all of them read plain text best.
• Text-based PDF: Firstname-Lastname-Tram-Driver-CV.pdf.
• Mirror the advert: "tram driver", "trainee tram driver", "rule book", "signals", "safety-critical", "spare turns", "split shifts", "accessibility", "control room", "PCV", "Driver CPC", "preventable accident", "clean licence", "attendance".
• If you drove light rail or streetcars abroad, describe the system in UK terms: tram type, line length, number of stops, signalling and passenger volume. Your experience transfers, but you will still go through the operator's own training and assessment.

Run your draft through the cvplex ATS checker with the advert pasted in. It flags the safety, availability and licence wording the operator used that your CV never mentions.