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- Thread starter Holt0121
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harry42
Member
Hey,
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17674
This thread is 'sticky' and contains all kind of information
Here is a fantastic website.
Hope this helps
Harry
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17674
This thread is 'sticky' and contains all kind of information
Here is a fantastic website.
Hope this helps
Harry
DunfordBridge
Member
Hi
I'm a current serving police officer and actively trying to seek a career in the railway. Mainly with the view to be a train driver.
I'm pretty new to all this and looking for any help to get me started.
Any help appreciated
Thanks
Although you may not realise it yet, you may be in a relatively good position to become a train driver with experience of working to rules and procedures, dealing with emergencies and fatalities, etc. My sister is actually a serving police officer and has described several such instances where she has been presented with unsavoury corpses.
The links which Harry has provided are excellent ones. However, there is a certain amount of transition associated with the recruitment of train drivers due to the new methods of train driver assessment which have come into effect this month. Therefore, the material which is presently on the internet may not be entirely up to date at the time of writing.
Some of the recent tests will have gone the way of the dodo as far as UK train driver recruitment is concerned although I think the Mechanical Comprehension test may still be doing the rounds.
Rather than repeat what I have written, I am going to plug a new thread which I started last weekend, http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=90854, which contains a brief outline of the new tests that are being used. I have also included links to industry documents which will give you some idea of the selection criteria.
Plenty of ex-police on the railway especially entering the driving grade from the street. There were two of us on my course and another on the course behind.
You'll tend to find that a lot of the areas that the railway requires experience in can be evidenced in great depth at the criteria based interview, one of the more difficult parts of the assessments. You'll have experience of working alone, dealing with emergency situations, shift work, undertaking long training courses, working to strict rules and regulations etc etc. There also tend to be quite a lot of ex forces people coming into the role too.
First thing is check your local TOC recruiting page for trainee drivers. If you're in Rochester then South East Trains is the most local but there are also several other operators in the south east such as SWT, Southern, FCC, Lorol (also known as London Overground) and even Eurotunnel. You'll need to check the vacancies pages regularly as jobs open and close in a small window due to massive over subscription.
If successful with an application then you would be invited to undertake several assessments (loads of info on here about them though I understand they are soon to change). If successful then it's onto the actual job interview part of the application and then the medical and references tend to be a formality.
After nearly a decade dealing with f***wits day in day out, I don't regret the change for a second!
Good luck!
DunfordBridge
Member
One of the links that Harry supplied, traindriver.org, has a page detailing train companies, depots and vacancies.
I cannot speak for South Eastern but with the First Group recruitment website, you can set up alerts so you can be notified by email whenever a vacancy arises that meets with your criteria. You could set up an alert for driver vacancies with First Capital Connect.
Silv1983
Member
Hi Holt,
I was a Police Officer for over 5 years with GMP until last year when I applied for a trainee drivers job with Northern in March. 18 months later and i'm now a post-qualified driver doing the job on my own.
PM me any questions you have mate - and I'll share what I can to help a fellow Post-Winsor copper...
I was a Police Officer for over 5 years with GMP until last year when I applied for a trainee drivers job with Northern in March. 18 months later and i'm now a post-qualified driver doing the job on my own.
PM me any questions you have mate - and I'll share what I can to help a fellow Post-Winsor copper...
I do have some questions but it won't let me PM you, not sure why. As soon as I figure it out I will drop you a message.
Cheers
plastictaffy
Member
It's not a driver's job, but my TOC are looking for Retail Travel Advisors.......
WCMLaddict
Member
- Joined
- 20 Mar 2012
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- 417
I hope you do realise that train driver salary while in training is usually around £18k? I'm sure someone will correct me if wrong but training takes over a year.
Hi All,
I was going to post a similar thread...have been lurking on the forum for a while.
I am desk jockey (lawyer), and am looking for a change of tack. I have been considering the rail industry for a while and looking into applying for trainee train driver roles.
Little difference to to the OP, but is there anything I can do to make me a better candidate? Rules, exams, memory, etc are fine, physical fitness and ability to concentrate for long periods of time are also fine.
Any pointers/hints/tips would be gratefully received.
Cheers,
G.
PS I am looking at ATW and Northern in the first instance. Are they both regular recruiters of trainees?
I was going to post a similar thread...have been lurking on the forum for a while.
I am desk jockey (lawyer), and am looking for a change of tack. I have been considering the rail industry for a while and looking into applying for trainee train driver roles.
Little difference to to the OP, but is there anything I can do to make me a better candidate? Rules, exams, memory, etc are fine, physical fitness and ability to concentrate for long periods of time are also fine.
Any pointers/hints/tips would be gratefully received.
Cheers,
G.
PS I am looking at ATW and Northern in the first instance. Are they both regular recruiters of trainees?
Go on to their web site and sign up for the job alerts
Since everybody seems to be crawling out the closet I might come out as well......
UPS driver here, been wearing the browns for 5 years, my background is in logistics & I'm looking for a career change. UPS pay very well & pride themselves with safety & customer service but I feel at the age of 35 I have enough experience and it's time to try something new......
UPS driver here, been wearing the browns for 5 years, my background is in logistics & I'm looking for a career change. UPS pay very well & pride themselves with safety & customer service but I feel at the age of 35 I have enough experience and it's time to try something new......
PeteH
Member
- Joined
- 6 Nov 2012
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£24K at FGW. Plus a bit of overtime through training too. ~7% salary sacrifice for the pension leaves you circa £22K (+overtime) gross. Most of us on the course I'm on have averaged 5hrs overtime a week throughout training, plus the odd Sunday once the handling phase starts (min. 8 hrs = ~£132 per Sunday before tax). Training is timetabled to take ~11 months from day 1, but yes, figure on 12 months once you've taken a bit of leave. Depending on how handling goes and the link one's instructor is in it could take up to 15 months (in extremis). Anyhoo, all in all one's looking at taxable pay equivalent to around £27K per annum, just over £1600 take-home every 4 weeks.
Not sure how entitlement to the police pension works, but perhaps that would be a mitigating factor through training? Not sure how long the OP has been in the force but 10 yrs as a constable should yield over £5K per annum. Happy to be corrected on the exact figure.
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I m just about to leave TNT....and start with Northern Rail in 3 weeks. I was working for Network Rail on a fixed contract not so long back. There is a brilliant " camaraderie " between front line rail staff, this is a big attraction for a lot ( despite what a few " depressives " might say ) , and with the industry at its busiest ever and no sign of slowing of investment and growth, clearly a good time to be joining,
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Likewise for me......interestingly I m currently working with an ex copper who got out of the Met 5 years ago and has no regrets.
DunfordBridge
Member
I would add the following pointers:
- Quick reactions
- Good hearing
- Normal colour vision
- High boredom threshold
- Tolerance of working alone
- Tolerance of working shifts
- Experience of handling emergencies
- Problem solving ability
- Safe personality
I am sure the list goes on but I am a little braindead at this moment in time due to spending many hours on a new website.
PeteH
Member
- Joined
- 6 Nov 2012
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- 112
Judging by some of my colleagues I'm not sure physical fitness is a prerequisite!
IMO, the hardest part is getting through the paper sift, probably due to the sheer number of applications.
Northern are. Don't know much about ATW. The most positions (unsurprisingly) come up in the London commuter TOCs. Southern seem to be constantly recruiting at the moment due to huge shortages. FCC are running three times the normal number of trainee courses next year and need more drivers. SET have recently taken on a load as have GA.
Depends where you live/want to live I suppose.
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