Story perspectives

Train Drivers Classified Working Class Amid Salary Controversy

12/22/2025

Summary

Story summary

The Office for National Statistics classifies train drivers earning £80,000 as working class, while police and prison officers are middle-class.
Starting next August, Civil Service internships restrict access to working-class school leavers, letting children of train drivers qualify despite their parents’ salaries.
Conservatives criticized this classification as arbitrary.
A deal between Rail and Maritime Union and Transport for London will raise Tube drivers’ salaries to nearly £80,000 within three years.

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Story summary

The Office for National Statistics classifies train drivers earning £80,000 as working class, while police and prison officers are middle-class.
Starting next August, Civil Service internships restrict access to working-class school leavers, letting children of train drivers qualify despite their parents’ salaries.
Conservatives criticized this classification as arbitrary.
A deal between Rail and Maritime Union and Transport for London will raise Tube drivers’ salaries to nearly £80,000 within three years.