Also called: Rail Traffic Controller, Train Director
Controls the movement of trains across hundreds of miles of track, like an air traffic controller for railroads.
From a control center with giant track diagrams, you decide which train takes the siding so another can pass, and you set signals and switches remotely. You talk to crews by radio and keep everything legal and safe.
Estimated; Class I dispatchers earn well with overtime.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 1 year after high school. High school diploma plus intensive railroad dispatcher training (several months).
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Railroad Operations.
Growing slowly. Steady.
Medium risk for 10 years. Computer-aided dispatch already routes many trains; AI handles more conflicts, so fewer dispatchers cover bigger territory.
Classes: Geography, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 43-5032.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.