Government on track to lower minimum age for train drivers to 18 in Great Britain
Labour will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30.The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from 20, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers.A looming mass exodus through retirement threatens to intensify driver shortages and worsen train reliability, with a lack of crew already a big cause of late-notice cancellations.The current average age of Great Britain’s 24,000 train drivers is 48, and about 25% of them will reach retirement age before 2030.According to a National Skills Academy for Rail report, that could mean a shortfall of 2,500 drivers in four years’ time.
While a number of train drivers continue to drive into their 70s, most retire well ahead of the state pension age as they become eligible for a railway pension at 62.Almost two in five train drivers in Wales, which has the lowest life expectancy in Britain, are over 55.The latest workforce survey, published in Department for Transport assessments last month, showed that fewer than 3% of train drivers in Great Britain are under 30 years old.The train drivers’ union Aslef, which has long campaigned for the minimum age to be lowered, admits members up to the age of 35 in its youth wing.Aslef said bringing 18-year-old drivers into the cab would not only help the railway recruit the numbers it needs but also increase diversity and better reflect the communities it serves.
Rob Kitley, 31, the chair of Aslef’s young members committee and a driver with GWR, said it was “fantastic to see the legislation now being put in place”.He said: “As young train drivers we have been campaigning for this change for many years, in order to level the playing field and bring our industry into line with other parts of public transport, such as buses and the London Underground.“By widening the goalposts to allow younger candidates to join the driving grade, we open the door to new talent which may otherwise have been lost.”The government declined to comment ahead of an expected announcement.However, discussing proposals last year, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said they would help in “future-proofing our railways against delays and cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers”, and also drive growth by “getting young people into the workforce and putting them on track for a skilled and fulfilling career”.
The move to a nationalised and integrated Great British Railways may have eased the change, with train operators on limited franchises sometimes reluctant to invest in training younger drivers – regarded as more liable to change jobs than midlife joiners, often ex-service personnel.Aslef has argued, however, that recruiting younger drivers will increase diversity, with more people joining straight from school.Dave Calfe, the union’s general secretary, said: “At the moment, many young people make their career choice at 18 and the industry misses out.This change will widen the opportunity for the rail industry to recruit the large numbers of train drivers required over the next five years.”Getting a job remains challenging, with competition for places, psychometric tests and 12 to 18 months of training.
Average salaries are about £70,000.Drivers are already able to start at 18 in other parts of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and France.Curiously, teenage train drivers may soon be allowed on either side of the Channel, but not to drive trains through the tunnel that connects them, because of a bilateral agreement between the UK and France.
Austin Butler to play Lance Armstrong in big-screen biopic
The Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler is scheduled to take on the role of the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in a buzzy new biopic.According to Deadline, the package has caused a “frenzied” bidding war in Hollywood with the Conclave director Edward Berger at the helm and King Richard’s Zach Baylin set to write the script.Producer Scott Stuber, who recently worked on Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, has been working to secure Armstrong’s life rights for a while and a deal has now finally been agreed. Armstrong will be involved in the film but will not have a producing credit.The hope is for the film to be a cross between F1 and The Wolf of Wall Street
Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump would eat a bicycle tire if you put it on a bun’
On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert responded to White House adviser Paula White-Cain’s claims that Donald Trump is “the GOAT”, while Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers addressed ICE and Jeffrey Epstein.Over on the Late Show, Colbert turned his attention to Trump’s appearance at the national prayer breakfast and his speech at the Washington Hilton hotel. Or as Colbert called the president’s 77-minute address, “special material just for the prayer munchers”.Ahead of his remarks, Trump was introduced by White-Cain, the White House senior adviser who Colbert called a “haunted Bloomingdale’s mannequin”. White-Cain introduced the president as “the GOAT: the greatest of all time”
Aacta awards 2026: horror film Bring Her Back and Jacob Elordi win big at Australian film and TV prizes
Bring Her Back has dominated at the 2026 Aacta (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards, winning 10 of 16 nominations, while Jacob Elordi has continued his recent awards buzz by taking home best lead actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller about a sinister foster mother, emerged as the most awarded film of the night with 10 wins. This marks a major milestone for the Adelaide brothers, surpassing the eight awards they won for their 2024 global breakout, Talk to Me.Bring Her Back won best direction, best film, best leading actress in a film for Sally Hawkins and almost every technical category, including cinematography, editing, original score, sound, costume design, hair and makeup, and casting.Fresh from his Critics’ Choice Movie awards win for his portrayal of the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi won best lead actor in a drama for his portrayal of army surgeon Dorrigo Evans in the screen adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Volcanic vulvas and hermaphrodite marble: Ovid’s Metamorphoses reshaped at the Rijksmuseum
Artists from Bernini to Louise Bourgeois are brought together in a new exhibition exploring the uncomfortable erotic parables of the ancient Roman poetOn three massive screens in a darkened room, snakes glide over the face of artist Juul Kraijer – covering her eyes, caressing her lips. She is the silent but terrifying snake-headed Medusa, and one of the surprises in an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam revolving around Greek and Roman myths.While the show features rarely lent works from masters such as Caravaggio, Bernini, Rodin and Brâncuși, it marries them with modern artists who reinterpret the legends where male gods do all they can to get their wicked way and the powerless are punished. Transgender bodies, bare breasts and even a volcanic vulva appear in artworks inspired by Roman poet Ovid’s masterpiece, Metamorphoses.Taco Dibbits, general director of the Rijksmuseum, believes the 200 myths and legends from this ancient epic poem still speak to our uncertain times
Seth Meyers on Trump skipping the Super Bowl: ‘Of course he is worried about getting booed’
Late-night hosts looked into Donald Trump’s excuses for not attending a Super Bowl where he would be booed and the dubious audience scores for the Melania documentary.With the Super Bowl just days away, Seth Meyers looked into why Donald Trump, usually one for attention, does not plan to be in attendance. “Given Trump’s love of football and attention, you might have expected him to show up to the Super Bowl on Sunday, especially since he went to last year’s Super Bowl,” the Late Night host said.But Trump has told reporters that he won’t attend the game because it will be played in Santa Clara, California, outside San Francisco, which is “just too far away”, though he acknowledged that he had received “great hands [at] the Super Bowl. They like me,” he said, adding that he “would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter”
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