Barcelona pulses with energy above ground, but beneath the asphalt, a vast network of trains makes daily life possible for thousands of residents. With the goal of strengthening this underground backbone and responding to the demands of its own workforce, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) launched a new public job recruitment drive this week . This recruitment process seeks to hire 200 new professionals to operate the trains on the Barcelona metro system.
This job posting, officially published last Tuesday, June 23, is in addition to the other 200 new hires announced in September 2025, bringing the total to 400 new positions in less than a year. Interested candidates will have from Thursday, June 25, through Wednesday, July 8, to submit their applications and the necessary documentation, applying for positions that combine train operation with direct customer service at the stations.
New, more stringent requirements and stages of the process
The new employees will be classified as Customer Service Agents (AAC), a role that aligns with the multifunctional strategy the company has been implementing for some time. Under this system, daily tasks are rotated in shifts ranging from one and a half to three hours. Thus, when a staff member is not operating a train, they are responsible for supervising and maintaining station facilities. This increase in staffing aims to address the shortage of personnel that the company’s own employees had been pointing out.
To be eligible for one of these positions, candidates must meet certain basic requirements: be of legal age, hold European citizenship or citizenship of a member state, and be fluent in both Catalan and Spanish. However, the major change in this call for applications lies in the required level of education. While in previous recruitment processes a high school diploma or an intermediate vocational degree was sufficient, this time applicants must hold, at a minimum, an advanced vocational degree or a completed university degree.
Candidates who meet this profile must complete a process divided into several stages. First, they will take psychometric tests, a personality test, and a personal interview. Subsequently, applicants will undergo a period of theoretical and practical training. To secure the position, it will be essential to pass a qualifying exam based on three major subject areas: the Railway Traffic Regulations, the Communications Regulations, and the Procedures Regulations.
The schedule is already underway. The period for registering and submitting the required documents began on Thursday, June 25, and will end on Wednesday, July 8. After the registration deadline, there will be a specific period to correct any errors in the submitted materials. Updates on the progress of each phase, exam dates, and results lists will be available directly on the official TMB website.
What is the salary of a subway driver?
The financial aspect is one of the points generating the most interest. Although the company’s salary scales set a base salary of 33,911.83 euros, the final compensation is increased thanks to various established allowances.
When adding the multifunction bonuses, the fixed allowance for the agent category, the annual productivity and training incentives, as well as compensation for regular and special holidays, the actual salary of a subway driver stands at 42,000 euros gross per year, without taking seniority into account. Depending on payment preferences, this amounts to approximately 3,500 euros gross per month if paid in 12 installments, or 3,000 euros gross per month if paid in 14 installments. To these figures could be added the increases corresponding to CPI-linked adjustments scheduled for this year.
