73310 Railway and yard locomotive engineers

What this occupation covers

Railway locomotive engineers operate railway locomotives to transport passengers and freight. They are employed by railway transport companies. Yard locomotive engineers operate locomotives within yards of railway, industrial or other establishments. They are employed by railway transport companies and industrial or commercial users of rail transport.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 6 main duties for this code.

• Operate locomotives to transport passengers and freight on railways
• Operate communication systems to communicate with train crews and traffic controllers to ensure safe operation and scheduling of trains
• Inspect assigned locomotives and test operating controls and equipment.
• Operate locomotives to switch, couple and uncouple cars for loading and unloading
• Perform switching operations according to written switching orders or dispatched instructions
• Inspect locomotives, replenish fuel or perform routine maintenance on locomotives.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 6 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 73301 Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators
• 72023 Supervisors, railway transport operations
• 72604 Railway traffic controllers and marine traffic regulators

Excluded from this code

• Light rail transit operator (See 73301 Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators)
• Subway train operator (See 73301 Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators)
• Supervisors, railway transport operations (See 72023 Supervisors, railway transport operations)
• Train dispatcher (See 72604 Railway traffic controllers and marine traffic regulators)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

diesel locomotive engineer - railway · freight train engineer · industrial locomotive engineer · locomotive engineer - railway · locomotive hostler · passenger train engineer · passenger train locomotive engineer · railway engineer · railway engineer trainee · railway hostler · railway locomotive engineer · switch engineer - railway · train engineer · transfer hostler - railway · yard engineer - railway · yard locomotive engineer - railway

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Experience as a conductor is required for railway locomotive engineers and may be required for yard locomotive engineers.
• Experience as a railway yard worker may be required for yard locomotive engineers.
• Railway locomotive engineers require a Canadian Rail Operating Rules certificate.