A BBC radio presenter who left journalism after 22 years to become a train driver says she wishes she had made the change sooner. Alex Worsick, 49, quit her role as a producer and presenter with BBC Radio Lancashire to join Northern as a trainee driver.
She applied after hearing an interview with fellow driver Lauren Pugh, 37, who was encouraging more women to consider a career in rail.
New challenge after BBC career
Worsick said: "I clipped what Lauren was saying for a story on the news bulletins and she made it sound like a brilliant opportunity. I was looking for a new challenge at the time, so I thought I would give it a go and apply."
She added: "I had got to the stage where I had done everything I wanted to do with the BBC – reporting, producing, news reading and editing. It was a bit nerve-racking changing careers in your mid-40s, but I thought 'if I don't do it now, I never will'."
Worsick, from Lytham, Lancashire, submitted her application to become a trainee driver in 2024. She passed the selection process, which includes interviews, psychometric testing and a medical.
Training and first journeys
She then completed 20 weeks of classroom learning covering how trains work, the rulebook drivers must follow, and signalling systems. She is now gaining 230 hours of hands-on experience in the driver's cab to operate different trains on five routes through Lancashire and Merseyside. Fully qualified drivers can earn up to £65,000, according to the National Careers Service.
Worsick said: "It's a brand-new challenge, so you have to accept it will be difficult at times, but it's really rewarding. I have never learnt so much stuff in such a short amount of time as I have at train driver school."
She added: "Being in that front cab is surreal, but you feel reassured straight away as you have an instructor with you. I grew up in Accrington and on one of my first journeys I drove over the big viaduct. I have driven and walked under it thousands of times over the years, but being in that front cab - taking people where they wanted to go - felt like a real privilege. It was quite special."
Encouraging others to join the railway
Worsick is encouraging others considering a new career to look at the railway. She said: "I wish I had done it years ago, especially with Northern, because everyone I have met has been so encouraging and supportive. It's like one big family."
She added: "I feel like I've got a new lease of life because it's switched my brain on. It's such a long time since I had to learn so much new information, I feel like a student again. That's really satisfying and it gives me a real sense of achievement."
