[ghost]

Trainee train depot drivers wanted at Greater Anglia Ilford and southend depots. Just saw it and it closes for applications in a few days 22/06/12.

good luck

[evoice]

As i m very new to this site, can anyone let me know what is the difference between a depot and a mainline driver. (depot driver especially). What kind of task does it do?
Any idea will be very helpful for me to step into this industry.

[bezzer]

Originally Posted by evoice

As i m very new to this site, can anyone let me know what is the difference between a depot and a mainline driver. (depot driver especially). What kind of task does it do?
Any idea will be very helpful for me to step into this industry.

Depot drivers spend their time in the depots, including train formation and safety checks, taking trains through the wash, shunting and other depot duties . They don't get out ono the mainline and drive passenger trains and often drive trains at 5mph max. There can be a lot of sitting around when trains are out on service and then gets busy late nights early mornings.

The way Greater Anglia works is quite strange.

On the Great Eastern Side (Ilford, Gidea Park, Southend, Clacton, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich etc) all trainees begin as Depot drivers . You can spend quite a bit if time as a depot driver depnding on where you are located awaiting a mainline drivers position to come up. You join the bottom of a list and work your way up if you want to go mainline. You then need to do more traning before they let you out on the mian line.

[B]On the West Anglia side [/B](Chingford, Hertford, Enfield, Bishops Stortford, Cambridge, Stansted Airport) you go straight in as a mainline driver, driving passenger trains. The training is a lot longer than the depot driver training.

Hope that helps.

[slick]

Originally Posted by bezzer

Depot drivers spend their time in the depots, including train formation and safety checks, taking trains through the wash, shunting and other depot duties . They don't get out ono the mainline and drive passenger trains and often drive trains at 5mph max. There can be a lot of sitting around when trains are out on service and then gets busy late nights early mornings.

The way Greater Anglia works is quite strange.

On the Great Eastern Side (Ilford, Gidea Park, Southend, Clacton, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich etc) all trainees begin as Depot drivers . You can spend quite a bit if time as a depot driver depnding on where you are located awaiting a mainline drivers position to come up. You join the bottom of a list and work your way up if you want to go mainline. You then need to do more traning before they let you out on the mian line.

[B]On the West Anglia side [/B](Chingford, Hertford, Enfield, Bishops Stortford, Cambridge, Stansted Airport) you go straight in as a mainline driver, driving passenger trains. The training is a lot longer than the depot driver training.

Hope that helps.

Remember greater anglia was once, WAGN, first great eastern, and anglia railways, and most conditions and working practices are retained from those days, hence the different ways drivers come up through the ranks. WAGN never had depot drivers, which is why chingford, bishops storford, and cambridge is straight in at mainline. Over this side shunting is included in our diagrams.

[evoice]

thank you bezzer and slick. That was very helpful.
I know to be a train driver, there's thousands of application for a single vacancy. But still wanted to know whether to go for depot or mainline to be a train driver. A bit of gamble may be

[bezzer]

Originally Posted by evoice

thank you bezzer and slick. That was very helpful.
I know to be a train driver, there's thousands of application for a single vacancy. But still wanted to know whether to go for depot or mainline to be a train driver. A bit of gamble may be

Many people enjoy depot driving and want to do nothing else. It is lower paid than a mainline (quite considerable) and there is no guarantee you will get a mainline job. Some people can wait for years dependant on which depot you go too.

I applied to be a mainline driver and was offered a position but could not take it up so was put on hold. Then depot driver's were advertised and I was in 2minds about whether to apply or to wait for a mainline job to come up. I am glad I waited as I now work on the West Side as a mainline driver.

There is always going to be recruitment going on and the question is can you wait and how much do you want mainline and the money.

Another consideration is where you live and whether you are prepared to move to live within 20 miles of a depot.

Just be aware though if you go through recruitment for depot driver it would not go down well if you then siwtched and went throuhg recruitment if mainline came up. In fact I believe you can't so consider it carefully.

[evoice]

Thank u again bezzer. I m currently a London bus driver. So I think quitting my job and taking a depot driver would b a gamble as I earn more than a depot driver. I better be patient. Thanks again for ur advice.

[bezzer]

Originally Posted by evoice

Thank u again bezzer. I m currently a London bus driver. So I think quitting my job and taking a depot driver would b a gamble as I earn more than a depot driver. I better be patient. Thanks again for ur advice.

Sounds like a good idea. Keep a regular check on TOC websites as they are recruiting all the time.

All the best

[Pezza]

For the Great Eastern side, Ilford, Southend depots etc... is the only route to mainline driver from being a depot driver then moving up? So in effect are these depot drivers vacancies the route to which you need to take to eventually become a mainline driver on the Great Eastern side?

Any idea of the wage once qualified for the depot drivers role, I am presuming that the £24,346 as stated on the website is the "Trainee Depot Driver" pay and will go up once qualified, please correct me if I'm wrong. I can only find mainline drivers wages listed on Aslef and nothing relating to depot driver.

[bezzer]

Originally Posted by Pezza

For the Great Eastern side, Ilford, Southend depots etc... is the only route to mainline driver from being a depot driver then moving up? So in effect are these depot drivers vacancies the route to which you need to take to eventually become a mainline driver on the Great Eastern side?

Any idea of the wage once qualified for the depot drivers role, I am presuming that the £24,346 as stated on the website is the "Trainee Depot Driver" pay and will go up once qualified, please correct me if I'm wrong. I can only find mainline drivers wages listed on Aslef and nothing relating to depot driver.

Yep, becoming a depot driver is the only way into mainline on the Great Eastern side. Join the list and await your turn.

Salary does go up on qualification but not as big a jump as mainline drivers. I am sure there is a depot driver on this forum who can tell you that.

[playmore64]

Hey guys

Resurrecting a fairly old tread but I've just been invited for an Assessment with GA as a Depot Driver next week and if I'm honest I'm pretty nervous.

Funny enough I feel pretty confident with the GB, SCAAT and Concentration testing but very anxious with the Mechanical and reading the paragraph testing.

I've ordered some books in relation to pulley's, cogs and levers so going to be studying really hard as this position is my life

Anyone here any news?

[Beveridges]

As i m very new to this site, can anyone let me know what is the difference between a depot and a mainline driver. (depot driver especially). What kind of task does it do?

For my TOC the salary difference between mainline and depot is only 9k but to reach that it goes down for the first year & up in stages & the difference only kicks in after 3 years.
The difference between Depot Driving and Mainline is considerable. I've done Depot Driving at two different Depots, and have also done mainline cab rides to see what mainline is about.
Depot Driving has a lot of other tasks thrown in other than the Driving, as you spend a lot of time ground shunting/pulling points, train preperation for units going into service, theres typically lots more verbal communication involved than mainline (all done by hand held radio), getting on/off lots of different units, Depot Drivers do a lot more couple/uncouple, fault finding, and if its a heavy maintenance depot you'll regularly do moves that are hardly ever done on mainline like propelling, hauling a completely dead unit, splitting units/putting them back together, and moving vehicles from split units. Depot Drivers also fuel and tank at some places, which is a filthy job.
Depot Driving is a lot more working outdoors, and a lot more walking, you probably do 5 to 8 miles of walking per night, and countless times you have to climb up or down units.
Mainline driving requires a lot less physical effort but requires more thinking as your driving most of the time. The Mainline training is a lot longer as theres a lot more rules (related to all the things that could go wrong) and of cause a lot of miles of routes to learn.
On Depot Driving you get instructed what to do by a team leader but on mainline you follow what is written down on a piece of paper called a diagram.
Another large difference is mainline driving is not line of sight driving due to the speed. You have to frequently brake for things before you can see them (signals, stations, reductions in linespeed, etc). Depot Driving is 5mph so is line of sight driving until you get conflicting moves, which you will get all night, then it all comes down to radio communication & deciding how you are going to work around the conflicting moves.
The shifts are different as Depot Driving is mostly night shifts while mainline is normally very early starts or afternoon turns with late finishes.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both roles and some depot drivers would rather stay where they are, while some move to mainline.

[playmore64]

A very well constructed and detailed overview of a Depot and Train Driver 'Biveridges' nice one

[Pezza]

Hi all, can anyone confirm how long the training period is for the depot driver roles relevant to these vacancies at Ilford/Southend? I'm presuming it would be somewhat shorter than the mainline training, is that correct? Hence a shorter period before the transition from training salary to full salary.

Also is anyone able to tell what the salary is for these roles once qualified. Does it goes up in stages as I have read it does for a new mainline driver.

[321446]

Originally Posted by Pezza

Hi all, can anyone confirm how long the training period is for the depot driver roles relevant to these vacancies at Ilford/Southend? I'm presuming it would be somewhat shorter than the mainline training, is that correct? Hence a shorter period before the transition from training salary to full salary.

Also is anyone able to tell what the salary is for these roles once qualified. Does it goes up in stages as I have read it does for a new mainline driver.

I joined NXEA in September 2008. After about 2 months at The Academy Stratford, it was off to Ilford to learn Yard & how to handle the various units I would be driving there. Passed out late January 2009. Now sitting at Southend Vic 6th in line from 16th & last when transferred in March 2009, for mainline training, but one of my classmates is out doing his now as he stayed at Ilford. Mainline
Training takes roughly 8-10 months.

Current Depot basic is £24,346. Mainline qualified Depot Driver (up to 200 turns mainline) is @ £32. Full Mainline is, I think in the region of £43k. Sundays extra on ex G. E. side.