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In the year to November someone was paid £103,374 to drive a Tube.

Eight others were paid more than £100,000, 30 more made £80,000 and up while 100 were paid at least £70,000 according to a Freedom of Information request to Transport for London.

The basic salary for a full time driver is £52,972 - but 3,000 earnt more than £60,000 once bonuses, pensions and overtime were included.

Oh, and you also get 43 days of holiday a year and a 36-hour week – but work up to 17 weekends in a row, with very early and late shifts and long periods of concentration sat alone in the dark.

Then there's the free annual Tube pass for you and your other half, with retirement on full pension at 60 or on a reduced pension at 50.

On top of that, it's one of the best-paid jobs you can do without a degree – although you have to work anti-social hours.

So is there a queue outside the door of people applying to be Tube drivers that's longer than the one of lorries trying to get out of Calais?

No. Because a deal with the unions means the public hasn't been able to apply to be a Tube driver since 2008.

The downsides to Tube driving

It's not all good news though. The reality of the job involves shifts starting as early as 04:45 and ending as late as 01:30.

There's also a no-alcohol policy for 8 hours before your shift starts.

You will also be working a lot of weekends (as many as 17 in a row) and bank holidays, as well as weekends and being required to spend very long periods sat on your own in the dark, concentrating with little room for error despite what can be repetitive work.

But don't let that stop you - if you still want to be a Tube driver, here are the two ways you can apply:

The recruitment process

(Image: PA)

As candidates are recruited internally, the best approach is to apply to become a customer service assistant.

Good news! You definitely can apply for one of these roles.

The roles being advertised are 20-hours a week, paying £17,187 a year in a permanent part-time basis (you would only be doing 4-hour shifts, starting between 15:00 an 18:00).

You do get free Tube travel for you and one other person living at your address though, and 75% off national rail season tickets (plus pension) though.

A full-time role (at 36-hours a week) would pay £30,936 at the same rate, although there are currently no roles being advertised. You can check here to see if any come up in the future though.

Once you're part of the system, you can apply to become a Train Operator.

Another way in

(Image: Getty)

Another path in is through a modern apprenticeship. Open to people aged 16-18, salaries will differ according to the scheme, but pay at least the minimum London living wage.

You need four GCSEs - grade A*to C - in maths, English language, one modern foreign language (or a humanity subject, including: history, classics, religious studies, theatre, art and communications), and one other GCSE to apply.

The scheme isn't currently running, applications will re-open in January for schemes starting in September 2019 – check out this page for details of the schemes .

Once the apprenticeship is completed, you will be part of the system and able to apply for a Train Operator job.

And that's it, the two ways you can become a Tube driver.