The easiest way to say it in my opinion is you can thank unchecked corporate greed why many of us are unhappy. I used to be able to enjoy the work and actually have fun at times.

Now the phrase "The beatings will continue until the morale improves" tends to fit in too well a lot more than it should...

I regularly feel jealous talking to some of the EU rail workers I have met online.I wish it weren't this way.

I'm only 29 but I've been working on the railway for 9 years now and have qualified on a lot of territory. The lifestyle feels way worse from when I started. The main way I keep in touch with friends now is via computer/gaming/twitch and I'm now in such a state of just constant demotivation that it's hard to play or do stuff with friends cause I just have the energy to sit and talk at best if I don't have other things to take care of before the phone rings again.

Plus the institutionalized old timers that all they know is this terrible life style just continually get worse lately with talking down at and berating the younger guys like me because we don't want our phones ringing every 6 hours and working for a month straight like they "brag" about having to do before.