ABSTRACT
Seen from the driving cab, the market-oriented reform of the Deutsche Bahn carried out since the reunion of the German railways in 1994 means more than a loss of income and habitual social benefits. For engine drivers, it means a sudden farewell to high technical qualification standards, long training periods and vast decision-making competence and authority. But the gap between the actual situation in the driving cab and the professional self-concept of the engine driver is widening, as it puts a strain on those qualities and qualifications that marked the profession of the engine driver as extraordinary during the first 160 years of German railway history. Today's engine drivers, though, are directly faced with the passengers and their requests. The driving cab in most of new Deutsche Bahn railcar trains is separated only by a glass door from passenger compartments, and regional trains, more and more frequently, are operated without any conductors.
