Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
US occupation · SOC 47-4061
Job titles people report: Machine Operator, Track Equipment Operator (TEO), Track Inspector, Track Laborer, Track Maintainer, Track Repair Person, Track Repairer, Track Service Person, Track Walker, Trackman
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $70,070
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $51,280 – $81,670
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 19,580
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +1.5%
- Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,200
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
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.
Main 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.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 1–2
- Little to some preparation
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Transportation and Materials Moving
- Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
$53,340 median · -0.9% projected
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
$59,850 median · +4.6% projected
- Millwrights
$65,700 median · +0.9% projected
- Pile Driver Operators
$73,300 median · -5.7% projected
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
$57,430 median · +1% projected
- Rail Car Repairers
$67,530 median · +2.6% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk