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Public transport is something many of us have come to rely on and catching a train to work, school or to meet friends may be part of your daily routine. But what is it like to drive a train? And how long does it take to learn?

Derby Telegraph reporter Shannyn Quinn visited the East Midlands Trains Customer Service Academy in Hudson Way on Pride Park to test the company’s train simulator and find out what it takes to bag yourself a job.

For your information, driving a train is complex.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, you’re faced with an array of buttons, levers and controls that all do different things to operate the train.

Nicola Davies, who has been a train driver for East Midlands Trains for more than 15 years after starting out as a conductor, showed me the ropes and explained that, along the journey, I would be faced with a number of different scenarios, similar to those that you come across on a daily basis.

Without prior knowledge, one would suspect that driving a train is similar to driving any other vehicle. But you'd be wrong to make that assumption. The operation in general is entirely different and there are so many things to remember.

Your reactions have to be spot on, which Nicola seconded.

She said: "It's not a job for you if you have issues with concentration. You have people's lives in your hands.

"The job can be very tiring, especially if you're up at 2am, but the good things outweigh the bad. You can be on the same job all week but every day is different."

The simulator replicates the experiences train drivers face in the cab of a real train and helps drivers to quickly identify any faults or failures.

While experimenting with the simulator, I came up against some difficult situations.

I had a near miss with some workers who were standing alongside the track and I managed to plough into a cow that had wandered on to the line. And I missed one station altogether because of the wet and slippery conditions. But, aside from that, it was smooth sailing.

Being a woman in the driving seat of a train is quite rare. East Midlands Trains employs a total of 515 drivers, 72 of whom are depot drivers and 443 are mainline service drivers.

Only 27 of those are female.

As you might imagine, depot drivers are responsible for moving trains around depots. But, as well as driving, shunting and carrying out light maintenance, drivers also carry out other tasks such as fault finding and reporting.

Depot drivers can progress in the role to become drivers for passenger services. It is often the case that depot drivers - who theoretically train for around nine weeks - can progress into a role within passenger services within two years.

Train driving is a job that appeals to young people, given the firm offers a salary of £26,391 for depot drivers during training, which rises to £35,188 once training is completed.

However, the firm is keen to break down the stereotype of train driving being a "man's job".

Nicola said: "I don’t think that women are aware that the job is available to them. They just don’t seem to think of it as an option for them. It is a job that can be done by anybody. The only stipulation is that you’ve got to be over 21 to drive a train.

"You've also got to be a confident person. It is a job with a lot of responsibility which requires you have to have people skills because you do have to interact with other people, including signallers, customers and other members of the crew."

Applying to the company is done without the use of a person's name, to prevent prejudice, and candidates are then invited to an open day to find out more. They also have to undergo a series of aptitude tests.

They have a variety of people applying for a number of different backgrounds, including former military employees, ex-police officers and teachers.

The job is a complex one and it makes sense for new drivers to spend several weeks in the classroom and behind the wheel of the simulator. You can find out more about jobs at East Midlands Trains by clicking here. Or, if you're looking for a change of career, check out our jobs site here.

It's certainly a job that requires you to react within seconds to your ever-changing surroundings and a high-level of attentiveness. I enjoyed my time using the simulator but I can't imagine I'd ever quite get the hang of all of those buttons and screens.

The best thing, according to Nicola and her colleagues, is that fantastic view from the office window that is constantly changing.

"It's a feeling you can't quite describe, sometimes you forget that you've got a big train behind you," said Nicola.