Pros
I enjoy the comradeship of my fellow workers. Finding solutions to problems, and getting the right response from the staff available. The friendship of most other railway workers. Fortunately I joined the railways long enough ago to get travel facilities. I have liked the railways from my earliest memories, and got into signalling on my 5th birthday. Never wanted to drive a train, but wanted to control them.
Kontras
New entrants do not get any travel concessions. There is still some blame culture (but this has improved from the "Railtrack" years). There is still a lot of misunderstanding between departments and the control about what each can do when requested to attend incidents. Most of the average public still do not understand much about railway operation (Despite several recent documentary's on TV). Very difficult to get anything done about poor performing staff who do not make mistakes, but seem unable to do the job required of them.