What does a Train Dispatcher do?

Really? The train dispatcher has to concern themselves not only with the safety of the passengers on board, but also with the general public, and fellow employees, fire dept. and police personnel and EMS on or about the tracks.

Just a fraction of these responsibilities involve trespassers, car on the tracks, track defects, people trying to harm themselves or those who succeed, switch trouble, failing crossing protections, signal trouble, onboard crime, medical emergencies, bridge strikes, bridge failures, track fires, fare disputes, police investigations, debris on the tracks, downed trees, downed power lines, kids playing near the tracks, equipment trouble, third rail/catinary issues, track work, route restrictions, equipment restrictions, close clearances, speed restrictions, track/station capacities, weight restrictions, grade of track restrictions, turns of crews and equipment, late trains, delays, on limited tracks/roadways, where the smallest of circumstances has the greatest long lasting domino effect on an aged infrastructure, with far less security.

We've hired former air traffic controllers as train dispatchers. They cite that air traffic control is easier due to the scheduled nature of commercial flights and the computer assisted oversight. Many train dispatchers are dealing with technology that lags far behind what is required by the FAA. Add to that the regular need to maintain and inspect the tracks and structures and an infrastructure fractured by the thousands of streets that cross tracks with the careless, reckless, and clueless people that traverse public streets daily.

Then there are the rule sets that are cumbersome, convoluted, scattered among various subsets and continually being modified. Couple that with ridiculous corporate policies, conflicting guidelines, and a work environment that would rather crucify the dispatcher than correct known yet neglected problems. It's a total cake walk.

I would say that maneuvering a bunch of trains through a crowded freight yard could certainly be really stressful, but that the day to day routine is probably easier than that of an air traffic controller.

@fingered - I would imagine that the big difference in dispatching trains and aircraft is that airplanes are so much faster, and they move in three dimensions. So a plane could end up almost anywhere. A train, at least theoretically, should only move along a set path.

@fingered - If you consider the technical requirements and systems that train dispatchers have to learn as part of their training, I'd say that their education is quite different. The similarities would normally lie in the "soft skills" that they require - ability to multi-task, deal with high levels of stress, work in teams and so on. They would also need a strong background in working with railway trains or a similar environment.

@fingered - I have no experience in either job, but I would imagine that a train dispatcher's job is generally a little less stressful than flight dispatchers. If you think about it, most airports typically have far more volume than train stations, and their vehicles move faster than trains too. This would mean that flight dispatchers would likely have to think and react much faster than train dispatchers while managing a higher load of additional traffic at the same time.

They did mention air traffic controllers in this article. I wonder if the job of a train dispatcher is as stressful as that of an air traffic controller. Is their training at all similar to flight dispatcher training too?