When Glen Brunsden says that he drives himself to work, he means it in a rather different way from the rest of us. Glen goes to work every morning by train.
Glen, from Dovercourt, is a driver-instructor at Greater Anglian’s training centre in Stratford. Here is where the people at the front end of most Essex trains, and the frontline of the railway system, learn how to do their job, under Glen’s instruction.
 Instructors have to stay in touch with what it is actually like to be responsible for taking a 1,000 ton vehicle and 1,000 or more passengers along two narrow strips of steel at 90mph. “It’s a part of teaching the job that I do it myself, regularly, hands-on, so that I’m talking from first-hand experience,” said Glen.
“So when I’m on the way to work, I’ll just ask the driver if I can take over for the run to London. I know most of the drivers, and normally they’re more than happy to let me.”
Much of the teaching is conducted in traditional classroom style with nothing more technical than a white-board. But Glen does now have another tool at his disposal. It puts everyone in the driver’s seat, without leaving the building.
The train simulators, installed this year, reproduce exactly the different types of drivers’ cabs used on Essex railway lines, including the Liverpool Street to Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich run, and the Southend Victoria commuter line.
The loco-sized moving screens reproduce every aspect of railway operation with precision.
A quickie session in the simulator offers one bit of instant instruction – driving a train is not as simple as it might look.
The dials and controls demand constant attention. Signals, points systems, stations and speed limit signs, hurtle towards you at high speed. Every time the driver sees a signal, he needs to depress a yellow button. If he is too slow, even by a second, the train stops in its tracks. Attention to the view ahead needs to be relentless. Adjusting the balance between accelerating and braking is an art in itself. Novices tend to operate at a juddering stop-start
There is another sensation at play, which is exhilaration. Not for nothing do children everywhere still dream of becoming train drivers. The train simulator has to be the best boy’s toy this side of a personalised rollercoaster.
Glen, however, takes a more phlegmatic approach. He says that he is not really a train buff, “although I enjoy working for the railways.”
The son and grandson of railwaymen, he worked in other jobs – a furniture shop, and Harwich ferries – before applying to “the family business.”
He said: “What I was looking for was a secure job, with a future, and a career path to follow. The railways provide that in a way that few other industries can do these days.”
Glen begins his instruction of new candidates after the early assessments have been conducted. “So I know already that they are the right people for the job,” he said.
There is one behavioural tip that he always gives to trainees. “Stay calm. You never know what the railways will throw at you,” he said.