Updated 8 November 2026 for the latest Rule Book
PTS mock test and practice questions
Try the 15-question quick check. Every answer explains the rule behind it and where it comes from.
- checked questions across 11 topics
- 460
- reported pass mark
- 90%
- until recert
- 2 yrs
Quick check
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Your path to the PTS test
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Check where you stand Free
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Practise each topic Free account
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45 questionsTrack, signals and terms Cess, four-foot, six-foot, signals, phones, limited clearance and warning signs.
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21 questionsFit for work Fatigue, working hours, medication, medicals, glasses, and zero tolerance of drugs and alcohol.
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24 questionsYour Sentinel card Sponsors, card validity, symbols on the card, and when it can be withdrawn.
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58 questionsGoing on or near the line Access, PPE, walking alone, positions of safety, crossing the line, road vehicles.
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46 questionsWorking in a group COSS briefings, safe systems of work, lookouts, site wardens and armbands.
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22 questionsDuring the work Staying within the safe system, warnings, tools, materials and rail vehicles.
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53 questionsCommunicating clearly Emergency calls, phonetic alphabet, saying numbers, repeat back and lead responsibility.
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62 questionsEmergencies Danger to trains, hand signals, clips, detonators, dangerous goods and fallen power lines.
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13 questionsReporting Accidents, near misses, Close Calls, CIRAS, fires, flooding and trains in distress.
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56 questionsAC overhead lines 25 kV OLE, the 2.75 m rule, bonds, the ECO, permits and rescues.
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60 questionsDC conductor rail 750 V conductor rail, the 1.5 m rule, crossing safely, isolations and rescues.
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Key rules sheet Free account
PTS: quick facts
Who needs it
On or near the line
Pass mark
About 90%
Questions
Set by your provider
The course
1 day
Valid for
2 years
Who pays
Your sponsor
Before the course
Medical and D&A test
Extra modules
AC and DCCR
Where people struggle most
- 38% missed
- 33% missed
- 20% missed
- 19% missed
- 18% missed
How other people scored
Sample PTS questions
1. You find a broken rail and cannot contact the signaller by lineside or mobile phone. How do you protect the line?
- Walk 1 km towards approaching trains and place 3 detonators 20 m apart
- Walk 2 km towards approaching trains and place 2 detonators 30 m apart
- Walk 2 km towards approaching trains and place 3 detonators 20 m apart
- Walk 2 km in the direction trains travel away and place 3 detonators 20 m apart
Answer: C. Walk 2 km towards approaching trains and place 3 detonators 20 m apart
If you cannot reach the signaller, walk 2 km (1¼ miles) towards approaching trains and place three detonators 20 metres apart on each affected line. This is full detonator protection and warns the driver in time to stop before the danger.
- Walk 1 km towards approaching trains and place 3 detonators 20 m apart: 1 km is too short; the protection distance is 2 km.
- Walk 2 km towards approaching trains and place 2 detonators 30 m apart: It is three detonators 20 m apart, not two at 30 m.
- Walk 2 km in the direction trains travel away and place 3 detonators 20 m apart: You must walk towards approaching trains, not away from them.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §8.3
2. In daylight you are standing on the ground and must stop a train urgently, but you have no red flag. What hand signal do you give?
- Hold one arm out horizontally
- Raise one arm straight above your head
- Cross both arms in front of your chest
- Raise both arms above your head
Answer: D. Raise both arms above your head
In daylight the emergency stop signal is a red flag. If you have no flag and you are not riding on a vehicle, raise both arms above your head. The signal must be clearly visible to the driver.
- Hold one arm out horizontally: One arm held out horizontally is the signal only when you are riding on a vehicle.
- Raise one arm straight above your head: One raised arm is not the emergency stop signal.
- Cross both arms in front of your chest: Crossed arms are not the emergency stop signal.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §8.2; GERT8000-HB1 Iss 9 §8.2
3. Your COSS is setting up a barrier tape fence next to an open line with a 75 mph maximum speed. How far from the nearest running rail must it be?
- At least 1.25 metres (4 feet)
- At least 3 metres (10 feet)
- At least 1.5 metres (5 feet)
- At least 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches)
Answer: D. At least 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches)
If the open line speed is over 40 mph, a tape or netting fence must be at least 2 metres from the nearest running rail. At that distance there is no restriction on train speed.
- At least 1.25 metres (4 feet): 1.25 metres is only allowed for tape or netting when the open line is 40 mph or less.
- At least 3 metres (10 feet): 3 metres is the site warden separated distance for a large group with no warden.
- At least 1.5 metres (5 feet): 1.5 metres is not a distance used for fences.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §5.3
4. What is the closest a rigid safety barrier may be placed to the nearest open line?
- 1 metre (3 feet)
- 1.25 metres (4 feet)
- 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches)
- 3 metres (10 feet)
Answer: B. 1.25 metres (4 feet)
A rigid safety barrier can be placed no less than 1.25 metres (4 feet) from the nearest open line. Its strength allows it closer than a tape fence on faster lines.
- 1 metre (3 feet): 1 metre is closer than the minimum allowed.
- 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches): 2 metres is the minimum for tape or netting on lines over 40 mph.
- 3 metres (10 feet): 3 metres is a site warden separated distance, not a barrier distance.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §5.3
5. You are walking towards a bridge and see a 'Warning Limited clearance' sign on your side of the line. What does it tell you?
- There are refuges on this side, spaced along the structure
- There is no position of safety on this side for the length of the structure
- You may enter only if the train speed is below 50 mph
- There is no position of safety on this side, but refuges on the opposite side
Answer: B. There is no position of safety on this side for the length of the structure
The limited clearance sign means there is nowhere safe to stand on that side for the length of the structure beyond it. You must not enter or stand there while trains are running, because you would have nowhere to go if a train came.
- There are refuges on this side, spaced along the structure: Refuges are not provided on this side; that is the point of the sign.
- You may enter only if the train speed is below 50 mph: No train speed makes it acceptable; you must not enter while trains are running.
- There is no position of safety on this side, but refuges on the opposite side: That describes the 'No refuges' sign, not the limited clearance sign.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §1.6; RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §4.5
6. What does a 'Warning No refuges' sign mean?
- There are no positions of safety on either side of the structure
- Work is prohibited beyond the sign while trains run
- No refuges or positions of safety on this side, but there are on the other side
- Refuges exist on this side but are too narrow to use
Answer: C. No refuges or positions of safety on this side, but there are on the other side
The no refuges sign means there is nowhere safe on this side for the length of the structure, but there are positions of safety or refuges on the opposite side. Knowing this lets you plan where to go before a train arrives.
- There are no positions of safety on either side of the structure: The sign tells you safety exists on the other side.
- Work is prohibited beyond the sign while trains run: That describes a prohibition sign, not a no refuges sign.
- Refuges exist on this side but are too narrow to use: The sign means there are no refuges on this side at all.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §1.6
7. You find a broken rail and phone the signaller. The signaller answers. What must you say first?
- Your name and where you are
- Line blocked
- This is an emergency call
- Emergency, stop all trains
Answer: C. This is an emergency call
The first words of any emergency call, including an accident report, must be 'This is an emergency call'. It tells the listener that immediate action is needed to prevent death, serious injury or damage, so you get their full attention at once.
- Your name and where you are: You give your name and location, but only after the opening phrase.
- Line blocked: 'Line blocked' describes an obstructed line; it is not the opening phrase.
- Emergency, stop all trains: This is not the set phrase, so the signaller may not treat the call as an emergency.
Source: RT3170 Iss 11 (2024) §7.3; GERT8000-HB1 Iss 9 §9.3
What changed, and when
The lineside is now defined by the railway boundary, not the boundary fence, as there is not always a fence. A new section covers reporting a dangerous goods incident. The limited clearance sign now means the risk applies the whole time any trains are running, not just when a train is approaching.
Distant and intermediate lookouts are no longer permitted, and the situations where unassisted lookouts can be used have changed. Site lookouts cannot be used in darkness, poor visibility, or in or near a tunnel. A lookout's view being 'blocked' is now 'obscured', covering stationary and moving obstructions.
The AC rules have new definitions and consistent terms, and now refer to unwired sections where electrification is not continuous. Unwired sections need the same precautions for rails and bonds as elsewhere.
The DC rules now apply in the Merseyrail area and between Drayton Park and Moorgate. The instruction about not touching running rails at the same time as other metalwork has been removed. Once the ECO confirms an isolation, conductor rail equipment is safe to approach but not to touch. The 1.5 metre minimum distance from live conductor rail equipment remains.
A new instruction warns that balise reader antennae fitted under some trains can give off harmful electromagnetic fields. Trains fitted with them carry warning signs.
How these questions are made
Based on the latest Rule Book
Checked against the source
Recert due?
PTS lasts two years, and recertification is a one-day course. Your card is only valid with an in-date PTS, a valid medical and a valid drugs and alcohol screening, so check all three in your Sentinel account before your course.
Rules change while your card is valid. Look at the changes above that came in after you last certified, such as the end of distant and intermediate lookouts and the updated AC and DC handbooks, then use the mock questions to test yourself on them.
Quizzes by other learners
Questions people ask
What is PTS?
Personal Track Safety is the Sentinel competence you need to go on or near the line on Network Rail managed infrastructure. Sentinel is Network Rail's scheme for making sure people working on or near the line are competent and medically fit.
How do I get a PTS card?
You need a trackside Primary Sponsor, who arranges your medical, drugs and alcohol test and course, and usually pays for it. You pass online pre-learning with its own assessment, then a course with a track visit and a theory assessment.
What is the pass mark and how many questions are there?
Neither is published nationally; both are set by your training provider. Providers are reported to use a pass mark of about 90%.
How long does PTS last?
PTS is valid for two years. To keep it you attend a one-day recertification course before it runs out.
What are PTS AC and DCCR?
They are extra modules for electrified lines. You need PTS AC to go on or near the line with overhead line equipment, and PTS DCCR where there is conductor rail equipment. With both modules the initial course is about two days.
Is there a PTS handbook?
Network Rail's PTS guide is RT3170. The rules themselves are in the Rule Book handbooks, mainly GERT8000-HB1, with HB16 for AC lines and HB17 for DC lines.
Are these real PTS test papers?
No. Our questions are original and written from the published rules. Asking for or sharing real test papers breaches the Sentinel Scheme Rules.
Is this an official PTS course?
No. GoConqr Original is an independent revision resource, not affiliated with Network Rail, RSSB or any training provider. You still need to pass your provider's assessments.