Trainee train drivers wanted...

[wobman]

Trainee train drivers wanted York here is the link
https://uk.firstgroupcareers.com/vacancy/trainee-t...

Had Manchester advertised but that seems to have closed quickly !

[wobman]

Good luck

[wobman]

Atw looking for trainee train drivers CHESTER / HOLYHEAD & LUDO JN, Applications will close soon once quota reached www.comeaboard.co.uk good luck

[wobman]

Good luck with the applications, just bear in mind it's a very competitive place applying for a job as a train driver & bear in mind it's usually a long drawn out process.
So being patient is essential & read up as much you can on the railforums plus research the TOC, the HR dept like you being proactive

[wobman]

Do you live over an hour away from the depot you applied for ? Some people rent or house share whilst at work then go home on rest days, not what I would like to do personally

[wobman]

You can trial through the rail forums looking for vacancies or keep looking at the toc you want to apply for, it's become a hard industry to enter nowadays but already being in the industry can help. Getting a conductors job is a great way to start in the industry & gain valuable knowledge/ experience of the railrways

[wobman]

There are big recruitment drives at present with TPE at various depots & TFW at some depots.
Good look to the successful candidates who are already on the way to bring drivers

[wobman]

340600 said:

I'd love to apply for the trainee driver job with TfW but it's based out of Crewe which is over an hour from me. Shrewsbury on the other hand is 25 minutes, is it worth applying anyway and hope for the best, or better to wait for vacancies at a local depot?

It's best applying to any depot you can get to within the hour, as you can always move to another even within your training period

[wobman]

ChocolateFrog said:

I've now got my contract confirming a January start.

Getting back into work has been long overdue for me so I'm really looking forward to it.

A question for current drivers. Is there any beneficial pre-reading or other prep I could be doing?

I've avoided getting into the forums mainly because I want start with a blank slate without any false misconceptions but I don't want to go into day 1 totally unprepared.

So advice for the first 16 weeks much appreciated.

I agree with the other posters regarding no prep with rules & traction, plus take some of the armchair experts on the some forums with a pinch of salt. This forum is nicer to posters than some dedicated rail forums I've found.

It's a challenging but rewarding 9-12 months of training from day 1 to pass out, even then your s PQA driver for a further 2 years. But my mindset is you never stop learning & have an open mind, plus there's no such thing as a stupid question.

I've found a minority of new drivers can be quite cocky & arrogant, but if I can see this I know that the DMs know these people aswell. I just kept my head down when I was training & listened to the experienced drivers/ DIs.
As they have all been trainees & the vast majority are helpful.

Good luck & enjoy the classroom 9-4 / 5 day week environment

[wobman]

tms996 said:

Think I’ve finally found the right thread here for advice .
Got an assessment coming up with DB cargo. Totally new to me, although I’m used to the transport industry. Looking for more of an insight into the job and the recruitment.

Anyone willing to post here or pm much appreciated. Wasn’t expecting to be having a good stab at a new career after 30 years in the old one but needs must and this looks like a good challenge from reading this.

If you look at www.railforums.co.uk they have loads of advice about the various stages of the assessment process & posts for practice material etc

Hope that helps & good luck 👍

[wobman]

itcaptainslow said:

It’s been touched upon already but just be careful with that forum-it’s full of people who think they know what they’re talking about, but really don’t.

I know from trying to correct some know it alls on that forum, it has a lot of armchair experts with 0 railway experience.

Whatever you do don't reply to bullying on the forum, as you get barred ! Apparently you have to ignore & report them in the correct manner !

Other than the idiots it does have some useful information from some knowledgeable sources, but you have to dig through the posts to find it.

[wobman]

I do find the people who say the role of a train driver is easy have never actually done the job, as previously said having 12hrs between shifts of nearly 10hrs in length are not easy.

I have shifts booking on a 2.30am that are over 9hrs long, with some have main rest breaks in the first hour of the job or some in the last hour of the job !
I can drive nearly 5hrs continuous driving with 6 minutes turnaround if I'm lucky, one job was 3mins but upped to 6mins now due to covid.....

Every minute of your day is rostered on your diagram aswell & every part of your driving is monitored on a OTMR system. With Rideout's by managers & downloads of your driving monitored.

Plus we have medicals & rules exams every few years depending on your age or competency etc

I'm not trying to put a downer on the role of a train driver & it's like all jobs you take the rough with the smooth.
But its nice to know what's involved in being a driver, the elements mentioned I find do shock a lot of new starters in the job.

It's a great career but it's not for everyone & it's not at all a family friendly role with its hours.

[wobman]

ChocolateFrog said:

wobman said:

I do find the people who say the role of a train driver is easy have never actually done the job, as previously said having 12hrs between shifts of nearly 10hrs in length are not easy.

I have shifts booking on a 2.30am that are over 9hrs long, with some have main rest breaks in the first hour of the job or some in the last hour of the job !
I can drive nearly 5hrs continuous driving with 6 minutes turnaround if I'm lucky, one job was 3mins but upped to 6mins now due to covid.....

Every minute of your day is rostered on your diagram aswell & every part of your driving is monitored on a OTMR system. With Rideout's by managers & downloads of your driving monitored.

Plus we have medicals & rules exams every few years depending on your age or competency etc

I'm not trying to put a downer on the role of a train driver & it's like all jobs you take the rough with the smooth.
But its nice to know what's involved in being a driver, the elements mentioned I find do shock a lot of new starters in the job.

It's a great career but it's not for everyone & it's not at all a family friendly role with its hours.

I'm interested to see how I'll deal with it.

My last job involved 5am starts for £12ph and my job before that involved, admittedly infrequently, 6 month shifts in Afghanistan, which really was a disruption to family life.

I'm hoping I'm prepared for the unsocial hours aspect of the job although I guess you never really know until you're doing it.

As for money. It was certainly one of the attracting factors, if it paid £20k would I have applied? Probably not. But it certainly wasn't the only factor.

I used to ski for 3 months a year in the Army, whenever people bhed and moaned about not working for a living I'd just send them the link to the Army recruitment page, that usually piped them down.

I'd suggest this is similar and the medical requirements are way less stringent than joining the Army, recruitment process is easier too so no excuses.

My last job involved stating at 4am for 6 days a week, usually working a 75 hr week on average. I worked outdoors doing this for 15yrs & my starting wage when I was 16 being £28 a week in the 1980's.

So I've worked a fare bit myself & a lot of people on the railway 🚂 realise the money is good but kicking a lump of leather around a football pitch for £100k a week is better pay or working in the city earning bonuses for tapping a few keys is silly money.

That's why I don't understand how people comparing the train driver role to the military or emergency services is comparable. They are very different careers with just a few similarities, for example in my depot we had 2 ex police that were let go during training recently during just 1 driver training course !

But we have people that have been HGV drivers or postmen or teachers, or from numerous varied careers that I think it's more about the person's personality & ability to adapt to the role coupled with work experience rather than there previous careers.

My comment was just stating some of the downsides to the job & helping people make an informed choice.
Such as I'm working Sunday at 5am then Monday 2.30am both 9hr shifts, but the advantage being I'm off my rest days the following Friday- Tuesday.

Our depot works a 4 day week but some work a 5 day week at different depots, but we aim to average over the year a 35hr week with Sundays 1 in 3 as committed overtime.

[wobman]

At my TOC the training has been going ahead as scheduled, things just take longer than previously & lots of online work is being utilised whilst training.

Just go to the first day with an open mind & ready to absorb lots of information, remembering there's no such thing as a stupid question m8 👍

Good luck & try to enjoy it the best you can

[wobman]

How many newbies on the railway have had their training delayed by Covid issues ???

I know the majority are well behind in getting trainee drivers out with instructors, TFW have been hit hard with covid delays unfortunately.

What TOCs / depots are you & how much have you been delayed ???

Good to see so many positive stories on here about new staff joing the driving grade 👍

[wobman]

It's a DSD Drivers Safety Device and the Vigilance is the audible warning (noise ) from the DSD pedal

[wobman]

Len20 said:

That sounds like the kind of flying enviedd by many! and judging by the amount of freighters i was seeing delivering parts to Jaguar and Vauxhall Liverpool recently it definitely is making a comeback.

I'd basically have to do a single engine instrument rating and CPL to stop the clock on the exams, best part of £20k then a couple of grand to revalidate the IR every year. yeah exactly, for the next few years any vacancies will be massively oversubscribed. Hopefully as people move on, it will open up the jobs on the lower rungs of the aviation job ladder for those new to the industry.

Thanks for the insights, seems i've got some soul searching to do. I'm under no illusions that I'm very lucky to have got into a talent pool on my first attempt, and I'm very greatful of that fact. I've been told there wont be movement for the foreseeable so I'm happy to sit and see what happens with the world until then.

Good luck to anyone applying for trainee jobs, feel free to send me a DM if anyone has any questions.

What TOC and depot are you in the talent pool for ?

[wobman]

ChocolateFrog said:

Yes Vigilance.

Which I almost found out the hard way you can't hear at 70mph with the window open.

The fun of certain train fleets such as sprinters with NO cab air con, 32c in a greenhouse with the only way to keep cool being an open window at 75mph or 90mph. Some have a tiny noisy fan aswell 😂

[wobman]

It's great the 2am starts in this heat, then working 9hr shifts in a greenhouse. Hopefully the new trains my TOC are getting have good air con for a more comfortable cab environment.

I'm glad to get home to have a cold shower in this heat

[wobman]

r44flyer said:

What traction are you on at the moment?

A good old class 150 & 153 in this heat is not a nice experience, the cab cooling added to the 158's fails with the air con system in this heat.....