Virgin Qualified Train Drivers

[SkinnyDave]

Virgin are looking for 5 qualified drivers at Manchester.

 

[telstarbox]

Maybe they should try the Bull's Head Are they fixed-term contract or permanent positions?

 

[notadriver]

What was the 'maybe they should the Bull's head' comment about ?

 

[telstarbox]

It was a dire joke...

 

[Cherry_Picker]

http://www.virgintrainscareers.co.uk/VacancyInformation.aspx?VId=52372

 

[notadriver]

It was a dire joke...

They are permanent positions. You going to apply for it ?

 

[Pumbaa]

There will be vacancies at Wolves soon as well. Unless they've just done that lot - I can't quite remember.

 

[Sammy h]

Gutted

Currently working for Virgin and would love to see a trainee vacancy come up, but it is not to be!

 

[RJ]

You and thousands of others! I think the long distance ex Intercity Train Operating Companies are in a position to only recruit drivers who have already been trained up so you may be waiting indefinitely for a trainee position to come up!

 

[455driver]

Gutted

Currently working for Virgin and would love to see a trainee vacancy come up, but it is not to be!

Do Virmin take on trainee drivers, I have only known them take on qualified drivers.

Please note taking on trainees is very different from advertising for trainees.

Cross Country are the same, they only poach from other TOCs.

edit-
When it were BR you had to go through the links before getting onto the express stuff so this is basically the same thing, the only difference was that it was all one big company so the training costs were shared but now its the regional TOCs that take the hit for the Inter City TOCs reap the benefits.

 

[ainsworth74]

Long distance TOCs like East Coast and Virgin rarely, if ever, advertise for trainees because they can attract already qualified drivers with higher wages and more interesting driving (would you rather drive a 142 all day around Manchester or a 390 at 125mph to London?). So anyone who's waiting for a Virgin to take on some trainee drivers is going to be waiting for a very long time!

 

[All Line Rover]

You and thousands of others! I think the long distance ex Intercity Train Operating Companies are in a position to only recruit drivers who have already been trained up so you may be waiting indefinitely for a trainee position to come up!

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

 

[Sammy h]

Long distance TOCs like East Coast and Virgin rarely, if ever, advertise for trainees because they can attract already qualified drivers with higher wages and more interesting driving (would you rather drive a 142 all day around Manchester or a 390 at 125mph to London?). So anyone who's waiting for a Virgin to take on some trainee drivers is going to be waiting for a very long time!

I wouldn't say I was WAITING for one to come up, just interested that's all....

However I have heard on the grapevine (off another driver) that some TRAINEE vacancies may be coming up in the new year, like I said though that is off the grapevine....

 

[notadriver]

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

Who are you to say that 30k reflects the skills and competencies required for the role ? Have you ever been qualified to drive a train on Network rail lines?

 

[SPADTrap]

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

No mention of responsibilities in there? Hmmm

 

[455driver]

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

Yawn! :roll:
So can you tell me EXACTLY what my job entails on a good day and another day when there is a train fault requiring the EBS switch to be activated!

Bit jealous are we?

 

[All Line Rover]

Who are you to say that 30k reflects the skills and competencies required for the role ? Have you ever been qualified to drive a train on Network rail lines?

No qualifications are required for the role (within reason). High levels of intelligence are not required for the role. Excellent people management skills are not required for the role. There is no shortage of suitable candidates for the role, as reflected in the job applications statistics. A combination of these and other factors should be suppressing salaries.

I do not need to be a qualified train driver to comment on and compare salaries. Salaries under BR were low - too low - but closer to the real world. A combination of the infelicities of railway privatisation, expensive training requirements and remarkably strong union power has caused salaries to shoot through the roof.

Most front-line railway roles are manual unskilled jobs. Train drivers might have a qualification for driving trains, but if the railways closed overnight, what qualifications would they be left with? Err... none.

 

[RJ]

Long distance TOCs like East Coast and Virgin rarely, if ever, advertise for trainees because they can attract already qualified drivers with higher wages and more interesting driving (would you rather drive a 142 all day around Manchester or a 390 at 125mph to London?). So anyone who's waiting for a Virgin to take on some trainee drivers is going to be waiting for a very long time!

Personally, if I was ever inclined to be a train driver (never floated my boat) I would rather drive for London Overground. Purely because I'd never be far away from home and get free travel around London. I've worked on board long distance services and having been stranded for hours in various places xxx miles away from my home depot, it doesn't particularly tickle my fancy any more!

 

[Dave1987]

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

Ouch! Have you ever seen the rule book for drivers? Plus all the route knowledge and traction knowledge you have to have?

 

[All Line Rover]

I note the usual excuses. Do I hear bus drivers saying "My job entails many responsibilities. People could die if I did something wrong. Therefore I should be earning £50k." No. Do I hear teachers saying "My job requires specialist knowledge which the unskilled man on the street would not understand. Therefore I should be earning £50k." Still no.

Train driving, in its current form, is certainly an attractive job, and I've absolutely nothing against train drivers. But they are still overpaid. In response to those who claim I am jealous, it's best to point out that train driving doesn't appeal to me personally as, whilst I'd enjoy it for the first few months, I'd quickly get bored of it!

 

[western Champion]

There wouldn't be 'thousands of others' if train drivers were paid a salary that better reflected the skills and competencies required for their role (30k max), but that ain't gonna happen.

You sound like a jealous wanna be !

We've around ten vacancies on VT at Wolves, and more finishing soon, if you're up to it

 

[Dave1987]

I note the usual excuses. Do I hear bus drivers saying "My job entails many responsibilities. People could die if I did something wrong. Therefore I should be earning £50k." No. Do I hear teachers saying "My job requires specialist knowledge which the unskilled man on the street would not understand. Therefore I should be earning £50k." Still no.

Train driving, in its current form, is certainly an attractive job, and I've absolutely nothing against train drivers. But they are still overpaid. In response to those who claim I am jealous, it's best to point out that train driving doesn't appeal to me personally as, whilst I'd enjoy it for the first few months, I'd quickly get bored of it!

As a driver there might a rule that you havent used for 3/4 years, yet at the exact point at which you are expect to use that rule and comply with it you have to remember it. You are in control of 100's of tonnes of metal with up to 1000 ppl on board which is an extremely responsible job. The pay reflects the level of responsibility.

 

[All Line Rover]

You sound like a jealous wanna be !

We've around ten vacancies on VT at Wolves, and more finishing soon, if you're up to it

This is very off topic, but as alluded to above, I'm opting for the degree route instead. Working on the railways did appeal to me for a time (probably when I was more naive!), but not anymore.

 

[A-driver]

I note the usual excuses. Do I hear bus drivers saying "My job entails many responsibilities. People could die if I did something wrong. Therefore I should be earning £50k." No. Do I hear teachers saying "My job requires specialist knowledge which the unskilled man on the street would not understand. Therefore I should be earning £50k." Still no.

Train driving, in its current form, is certainly an attractive job, and I've absolutely nothing against train drivers. But they are still overpaid. In response to those who claim I am jealous, it's best to point out that train driving doesn't appeal to me personally as, whilst I'd enjoy it for the first few months, I'd quickly get bored of it!

And there is the answer to your own question!

You do get bored of it very quickly-so bored of it. So bored of seeing the same tracks day in day out that its really very easy to stop concentrating. Especially when you have got out if bed at 0230 on a Monday having booked off work at 0345 Saturday night (well sun morning). Staying awake and 100% focused on what the last signal was, where the next station is etc becomes a real task and something which requires a skill on its own. Get dangerously tired in the middle of a 5 hour non stop driving stint and you can't just turn some music on, have a smoke, get a coffee, talk to someone, take a quick break etc.

But let's not get bogged down in this stupid argument that keeps getting dragged up by trolls.

And I should add that I have a 1st class masters degree. It's not worth anything. Employers don't tend to see it as anything special as degrees are 10 a penny these days. I have picked up far more skills working on the railways.

 

[All Line Rover]

And I should add that I have a 1st class masters degree. It's not worth anything. Employers don't tend to see it as anything special as degrees are 10 a penny these days. I have picked up far more skills working on the railways.

Well I don't wish to start a debate about the value of degrees. The point I am making is simply a response to RJ's post, which is that the only reason such a large number of people apply for trainee driving positions is because of the large and unjustifiably high salary in comparison to other unskilled jobs. I wouldn't want to promise anyone that such salaries are sustainable and secure for decades to come.

 

[Silv1983]

Long distance TOCs like East Coast and Virgin rarely, if ever, advertise for trainees because they can attract already qualified drivers with higher wages and more interesting driving (would you rather drive a 142 all day around Manchester or a 390 at 125mph to London?). So anyone who's waiting for a Virgin to take on some trainee drivers is going to be waiting for a very long time!

Whilst I wouldnt turn my nose up to work for Virgin - the grandeur of high speed rail and the good salary would appeal: but "driving a 142 around manchester all day" is far more engaging and challenging than being sat in the cab of a pendolino. Apparently it can be very boring watching signals zip by - with only the AWS reset button (occasionally) and a tiny TBC for company.

 

[A-driver]

But they are not un justifiable-they are to you but that's because you don't really know anything about the job.

It's far more than sitting up front with a power handle and a brake lever. That is the easy part of it.

Pretty much all terms and conditions have been sold off for those salaries and there are actually not as many useable applicants as you seem to suggest.

 

[Dave1987]

the large and unjustifiably high salary in comparison to other unskilled jobs.

I'm sorry how is a train driver unskilled?

 

[notadriver]

Well I don't wish to start a debate about the value of degrees. The point I am making is simply a response to RJ's post, which is that the only reason such a large number of people apply for trainee driving positions is because of the large and unjustifiably high salary in comparison to other unskilled jobs. I wouldn't want to promise anyone that such salaries are sustainable and secure for decades to come.

There you go again. Train driving is NOT an unskilled job. If it were, anyone could do it and those that did do it could be replaced relatively easily like the bus drivers you mentioned earlier. Now that job is relatively unskilled.

 

[All Line Rover]

I'm sorry how is a train driver unskilled?

Unskilled is harsh, perhaps. Semi-skilled is more accurate.