Good Train Drivers Wasted Because of Age Limits

The regulation that only grants train driving licenses to men up to the age of 55, while according to the Labor Law, retirement is only possible at the age of 57, causes difficulties for both workers and businesses.

Not yet at retirement age but already too old to drive a train Sharing with Giao thong Newspaper reporter after getting off the Thong Nhat train, Mr. Nguyen Huu Cuong, train driver of Hanoi Locomotive Enterprise said: "I am over 54 years old, I will retire in 3 years. But in October 2025, I will not be able to drive a train anymore because I am past the age limit according to my license. After more than a year, I don't know what work the enterprise will arrange for me."

Train driver Nguyen Huu Cuong - Hanoi Locomotive Enterprise.

Mr. Cuong said that according to the previous Labor Law, by October 2025 he will be old enough to retire, and at the same time, he will be old enough to be granted a train driving license according to the 2017 Railway Law. This means he is old enough, old enough to work, and entitled to a full pension of 75%. However, according to the current Labor Law, after turning 55, he will have to work for more than 1 more year before he can retire. "For more than a year, whatever work the unit assigns, I will have to do that work, I will not be able to work as a train driver anymore. Is the job suitable, can I do it, will my income decrease? As of October 2025, I have 30 years of insurance contributions, but according to the new regulations, I must pay insurance for 35 years. If I quit and no longer work, I will be deducted 2% each year, a total of 10%. If I am not old enough to retire, each year I retire early will be deducted another 2%, meaning I will be deducted 4% if I retire at age 55. In total, I will be deducted up to 14%," Mr. Cuong wondered. In the same case as Mr. Cuong, Mr. Cao Sy Thanh said that he had terminated his labor contract since May 2024. At that time, he had been over 55 for a few months, but was not yet old enough to retire at age 57 according to regulations. "This was a difficult decision, I had to consider a lot. I have been attached to the railway industry for more than 30 years, became a train crew leader when I was only 30 years old, and achieved the title of Train Safety Master for the 7th time in 2023. "I have strived and made such efforts, but now I am not yet at retirement age and I can no longer drive trains. The unit arranged for him to be a train assistant, but this position would earn lower income," said Mr. Thanh. Difficult to arrange other jobs Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Director of Hanoi Locomotive Enterprise, said that cases like Mr. Thanh and Mr. Cuong are not rare, especially at the time when the Labor Law 2019 took effect from 2021. Previously, the Labor Law stipulated that male workers in heavy and hazardous jobs such as train driving must retire at the age of 55, so the Railway Law 2017 also stipulated that train driving licenses must only be issued to men up to the age of 55. However, according to current regulations, the retirement age for male workers in heavy and hazardous jobs is 57 years old. That is, train drivers must retire at the age of 57, but train driving licenses are only issued up to the age of 55. Therefore, for these train drivers, the unit cannot arrange them to be train drivers, but it is also very difficult to arrange other jobs because all departments have enough workers. Moreover, they are trained to drive trains, the job are also train drivers, now they change to another job and do not have the expertise. To reduce their disadvantages, the unit still maintains the salary coefficient, insurance payment regimes according to the train driver's level, but the product salary must be based on the job, so it is only about 60-70% of the train driver's salary. Therefore, many train drivers have terminated their labor contracts. Mr. Thang said that at the time of July 2021, after more than half a year of the 2019 Labor Law taking effect, according to the enterprise's calculations, within about 6 and a half years, 25/187 train drivers of the unit had to stop working due to the above regulations. To date, there have been 13/25 cases of retirement or early retirement, termination of labor contracts. Among them, there are many good and experienced train drivers. Need to amend soon. The representative of Vietnam Railway Corporation said that the same situation also occurs with the Vinh and Saigon locomotive enterprises. It takes 6-9 years to train a train driver from the time the student graduates. Even if they have a train driver's license, they still have to work as a train assistant driver for about 3 years, take the test to become a train assistant driver for train 2, and then spend another 3 years, if qualified, to become a train driver (main driver). Vietnam Railway Corporation has proposed that competent authorities consider amending regulations to suit reality. Talking to Giao thong Newspaper, Mr. Duong Hong Anh, Deputy Director of Vietnam Railways Department, said that in performing the assigned tasks of the Ministry of Transport, they will coordinate with relevant agencies and units to draft a dossier for the Railway Law (amended) to propose amending regulations on age for granting train driving licenses. According to the current Railway Law, people granted a train driving license must be between 23 and 55 years old for men and 23 and 50 years old for women. Therefore, the Railway Department proposes to amend and supplement the train driver age to comply with the Labor Law on the retirement age of workers, especially those working in the list of heavy and hazardous occupations. Accordingly, it will be amended to: People granted a train driver's license must have a working age in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law.

According to the Vietnam Railway Authority, the current regulations on the maximum age for a train driver's license are not suitable for reality, leading to the rights of workers being affected. Railway businesses also have difficulty in employing and arranging jobs for train drivers. In addition, the regulations on the minimum age for a train driver's license are also not suitable for reality, causing difficulties for businesses in training and recruiting train drivers.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/lang-phi-lai-tau-gioi-vi-gioi-han-do-tuoi-192241224182814076.htm