Signal and Track Switch Repairers
Install, inspect, test, maintain, or repair electric gate crossings, signals, signal equipment, track switches, section lines, or intercommunications systems within a railroad system.
- Median pay
- $92,460
- Doing it now
- 8,700
- By 2035
- Up 1.8%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
800 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Install, inspect, maintain, and repair various railroad service equipment on the road or in the shop, including railroad signal systems.
- Inspect and test operation, mechanical parts, and circuitry of gate crossings, signals, and signal equipment such as interlocks and hotbox detectors.
- Inspect switch-controlling mechanisms on trolley wires and in track beds, using hand tools and test equipment.
- Drive motor vehicles to job sites.
- Tighten loose bolts, using wrenches, and test circuits and connections by opening and closing gates.
- Inspect electrical units of railroad grade crossing gates and repair loose bolts and defective electrical connections and parts.
- Replace defective wiring, broken lenses, or burned-out light bulbs.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Electrical and Power Transmission InstallersSee 2 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
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Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $92,460 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.