I could be a train driver too...

By Steve Phillips BBC London Travel

400 drivers will be put through the training programme

Travel guru Steve Phillips has a go on the hi-tech training simulators that are being used to show drivers how to operate the new London Overground trains.

A huge training programme is underway for 400 drivers over the next year because of the new trains that are being rolled out across the London Overground network.

As part of the programme, London Overground is using a train simulator at their depot in Willesden, recreating the driving experience on the new lines.

I went down to see if I could make the grade driving one of the new trains.

Under the tutelage of driving instructor Ian McClay, I sat in the driver's seat surrounded by an array of flashing buttons, levers, dials and screens.

The train is powered by one major lever which operates the power and braking.

Looking out of the front window, I was faced with a huge screen. The screen showed that I was stopped in a station underground with a platform of waiting passengers.

In a control room next door, Paul Butterfield was at a bank of computers conjuring up scenarios for me to negotiate, including lineside fires, cars on level crossings, faulty signals and trespassers.

Happy to report I successfully moved the train, opened the doors on the right side and even waited for more passengers to board, who were all looking worse for wear in a computer-simulated sort of way.