A career as a train driver

[Will6748]

Whereabouts in the south east are you and would you consider relocating..?

Live in Romford essex at the moment, i would consider relocating if the need did arise.

 

[martin2345uk]

People tend not to know in advance on here when companies will be recruiting (they do occasionally) so your best best is to check daily the careers sections of the TOCs, Greater Anglia and c2c could be two reasonable ones for you, I think c2c only recruit trainees as depot drivers initially but I think there’s a progression to mainline... check the “driver depots” thread on this very page!

 

[sw1ller]

And don’t forget FOC depots too. Been a lot of recruitment lately all over the country.

 

[Will6748]

Brilliant thank you both

 

[Pete C]

MTR Crossrail have a depot in Ilford and have been recruiting also

 

[Hammerk]

Could anyone please tell me what a medical would include?

 

[martin2345uk]

Eye test colour vision hearing urine test for drugs, I had some kind of ECG and general movement of limbs check...

 

[ComUtoR]

Did you get the Hearing Test too ?

 

[Hammerk]

Thanks
Intrigued by the general movement of limbs

 

[martin2345uk]

Did you get the Hearing Test too ?

Yep I said Hearing, I’ll never forget it as it’s the one I failed! :-/

 

[ComUtoR]

Yep I said Hearing, I’ll never forget it as it’s the one I failed! :-/

It's amazing I passed the eyesight one


Sorry to hear that, although I thought you are starting training soon.

 

[martin2345uk]

It's amazing I passed the eyesight one


Sorry to hear that, although I thought you are starting training soon.

Yeah I failed as my right ear was blocked up (eww) so I had to have it unblocked and managed to pass on a second test - still among the more stressful periods of my life though...

 

[Cismaru Alin]

Hello,I'm interested to be a Train Driver.Ho know's what I need to do?

 

[martin2345uk]

Take some time and read the thread you posted on, would be a good start I would say

 

[James Abodi]

Yes of

Hi Guys,

I've just recently qualified as a driver for National Express East Coast at Leeds.

I was an internal applicant but I will pass on my experience.

First there was the interview. 300 applicants down to 30 to be interviewed. It is important on the application form as well as the interview to talk about professionalism, your reliability but even more importantly they want to hear about how importantly you take communication and safety. You must be able to show you have done some research. Tell them where their driver's depots are, their train depots, which routes they travel over.

There were 2 positions and they only sent us 2 for the pyschometric testing, whereas usually they send half a dozen because the pass rate is about 25%.

At the testing you will do a short term memory test. You get a passage of text to read for about 5 minutes and then have to answer as many multiple choice questions as you can in the time given. You can make notes whilst you read the text and I cant stress enough I much this will help you.

You will then have to do the concentration test, which is also known as the barden test. It is pages of groups shapes made up of 3, 4 or 5 dots. The idea is to put a mark through each of the 4 dot shapes and do as many as possible. This is difficult but photocopy loads and loads of pages before you go and just do them over and over again.

There is then the co-ordination test on a computer. There is a monitor with a special keyboard which has 4 coloured buttons on. You also have 2 foot pedals and ear phones on. Basically the idea is which ever colour flashes on to the screen you press the corresponding button. When ever you get a buzz in your left ear your press down the left foot pedal etc. This should be fine if you are used to using a playstation etc.

Then there is the mechanics test. This is basically a physics test. You'll get diagrams and questions like if pulley A is turned clockwise which way will pulley C turn. Buy Physics for dummies. This was a great help to me.

Anyway, pass all that and you are in! Then the hard work starts.

Hope this helps. I was thinking of operating some sort of seminar for people that are looking to get in to train driving and want to know what is involved. I'd provide examples used in the psychometric testing and interview techniques etc. Do you think anybody would be interested in attending such a thing?

Anyway, bye for now.

Mike

course, actually am interested mate

 

[Cismaru Alin]

Hi mate,I ' m interested to be Train Driver!Can you give me some detalieds for what I have to do.Thanks

 

[C.T.P.]

Hi mate,I ' m interested to be Train Driver!Can you give me some detalieds for what I have to do.Thanks

You have to apply for the jobs when they are advertised.

 

[PikeJ6969]

Bourdon dot test help
Hello people
I am new to this forum so hopefully I am in the right place for some help.
For the Bourdon for test I have two versions of mock tests. One I have four grids on one sheet of A4 paper, landscape version.
The second is portrait and has two grids per A4 sheet. What version does the assessment centre use please?
Thank you

 

[Slinky252]

Hi Guys

Do West Midlands trains recruit train drivers once a year, or can the gap in time be longer in general. I keep checking. They last recruited May 18. Or do TOC’s generally recruit as and when and the gap between can be really long.

 

[martin2345uk]

Totally as and when mate.

 

[Slinky252]

Thanks mate.

 

[Sheehan97]

Hello, sorry to jump in on this, would it be possible for myself to get this information also, as I'm struggling with it.
Thanks

Did you get the practice material for this? And would be be willing to send it to me?

 

[Slinky252]

Hi Guys,

Very interested in becoming a train driver. I have registered email alerts for GWR, (first group) West Midlands trains (Abellio) crosscountry (dB) and Chiltern Rail. Those are the ones I’m hoping recruit soon because I live in Kidderminster , Worcestershire about 40 minutes from Birmingham. Have I missed any TOC’s that operate the area I can apply for ?

 

[C.T.P.]

Hi Guys,

Very interested in becoming a train driver. I have registered email alerts for GWR, (first group) West Midlands trains (Abellio) crosscountry (dB) and Chiltern Rail. Those are the ones I’m hoping recruit soon because I live in Kidderminster , Worcestershire about 40 minutes from Birmingham. Have I missed any TOC’s that operate the area I can apply for ?

You have to apply for the jobs when they are advertised.

good luck!

 

[Coach Carter]

Hi Guys,

Very interested in becoming a train driver. I have registered email alerts for GWR, (first group) West Midlands trains (Abellio) crosscountry (dB) and Chiltern Rail. Those are the ones I’m hoping recruit soon because I live in Kidderminster , Worcestershire about 40 minutes from Birmingham. Have I missed any TOC’s that operate the area I can apply for ?

Don’t rule out freight operators (FOC’s) as well. I live in Bewdley and am currently in the pool for freightliner, so there are good opportunities on freight also.

 

[Slinky252]

Don’t rule out freight operators (FOC’s) as well. I live in Bewdley and am currently in the pool for freightliner, so there are good opportunities on freight also.

Thanks for that. Not really looked at freight so is it just freight liner near here then or are there others ?

 

[Coach Carter]

Thanks for that. Not really looked at freight so is it just freight liner near here then or are there others ?

Nearest freightliner depot to us is Birmingham then maybe Rugby. I’m not sure about companies like DB Cargo or Colas but both are big companies so would assume they have depots in or close to Birmingham/West Midlands

 

[Slinky252]

Nearest freightliner depot to us is Birmingham then maybe Rugby. I’m not sure about companies like DB Cargo or Colas but both are big companies so would assume they have depots in or close to Birmingham/West Midlands

Ok thank you for your help on this

 

[Slinky252]

good luck!

Thanks mate

 

[Firecrest]

Hey everyone

I've been following the forums for some time and I wanted to spread some ♥️ and offer an easy method for receiving instant alerts when a job vacancy is posted, especially for Trainee positions which don't seem to last for very long.

I hope you find it useful!

You'll need to use the Google Chrome browser

• Login to Chrome with a Gmail account (create one if you haven't already got one)
• Enter search text for your dream job (it must contain the word Job)

For example
trainee train driver job -lorry -bus -instructor​

The - sign immediately before a word omits results that contain that specific word i.e you don't want trainee Lorry drivers, you want trainee train drivers. It makes the results more relevant.​

• When the results appear look for a Create Alert slider button and tap it, it should flip over to the right and you'll now get alerts straight to your Gmail inbox. (to see the slider button you might have to expand the results by clicking Show more first)

One last and important step. When you receive an alert email, click the text at the bottom that reads Manage Alerts. In the resulting page select the frequency for the alerts to be Instant.

That's all folks, good luck