Construction and extraction
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators
Lay, repair, and maintain track for standard or narrow-gauge railroad equipment used in regular railroad service or in plant yards, quarries, sand and gravel pits, and mines. Includes ballast cleaning machine operators and railroad bed tamping machine operators.
Median pay
$70,070
Growth to 2035
+2%
little or no change
Openings a year
1,200
Time to qualify*
6 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators: 42% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Repair or adjust track switches, using wrenches and replacement parts.
- Patrol assigned track sections so that damaged or broken track can be located and reported.
- Engage mechanisms that lay tracks or rails to specified gauges.
- Cut rails to specified lengths, using rail saws.
- Operate single- or multiple-head spike driving machines to drive spikes into ties and secure rails.
- Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together.
- Raise rails, using hydraulic jacks, to allow for tie removal and replacement.
- Lubricate machines, change oil, or fill hydraulic reservoirs to specified levels.
Also called: Machine Operator · Track Equipment Operator (TEO) · Track Inspector · Track Laborer · Track Maintainer · Track Repair Person · Track Repairer · Track Service Person
Outlook and AI
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators held 17,400 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 17,700 by 2035 (+2%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
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