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Eurostar Drivers

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mindthedoors

mindthedoors

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Are there any Eurostar drivers on here who could give any information on the working patterns and diagrams? It seems that they'll be expanding services over the next few years and I'm wondering what sort of distance drivers are expected to cover.

I am a qualified driver, but only with suburban work in London (no high speed experience).. and my French is terrible. Do I have any chance whatsoever?
 
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Monty

Monty

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I also think drivers are expected to speak French Fleuntly?
 
GNER 373

GNER 373

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As far as I'm aware the last two comments are spot on, fluent french is a must for comms with signallers 'South of le tunnel' and 5 years of high speed passenger train driving experience.
 
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flash

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mindthedoors said:
Are there any Eurostar drivers on here who could give any information on the working patterns and diagrams? It seems that they'll be expanding services over the next few years and I'm wondering what sort of distance drivers are expected to cover.

I am a qualified driver, but only with suburban work in London (no high speed experience).. and my French is terrible. Do I have any chance whatsoever?
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35 hrs, 4 day week averaged over the year. Maximum shift length is 11 hrs. Earlies, lates & Nights. New entrants go Paris and Marne La Vallee. Diagrams at the moment are out and back, sometimes pass one way, odd diagrams included empties to or from the depot also there is the occasional lodge

Recent recruits have come from depots all over the southeast, not just 'high(ish) speed depots. French is not required, just the ability to learn - any prior French you have is a benefit (which may well help at the interview)
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GNER 373 said:
As far as I'm aware the last two comments are spot on, fluent french is a must for comms with signallers 'South of le tunnel' and 5 years of high speed passenger train driving experience.
Click to expand...

Just not quite correct.....
 
mindthedoors

mindthedoors

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Thanks Flash!

I received an email from them today responding to my enquiries. They said the same things as you but emphasised a lot on customer service (something that doesn't really exist where I currently am).

Do drivers get to swap their nights for earlies, lates etc? And what benefits do drivers get?
 
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Hynod

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Do you need to live within a certain distance/ time from the main depot>
 
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flash

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mindthedoors said:
Thanks Flash!

I received an email from them today responding to my enquiries. They said the same things as you but emphasised a lot on customer service (something that doesn't really exist where I currently am).

Do drivers get to swap their nights for earlies, lates etc? And what benefits do drivers get?
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Drivers can swap amongst themselves. They talk about customer service but drivers are not involved to a great extent - management like to hear it though!

As to benefits, some free eurostar tickets, subsidised season tickets, ride to work scheme, 5 weeks annual leave, up to 17 days 'float' leave, 75% off LUL season tickets. Protected staff keep their facilities.
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Hynod said:
Do you need to live within a certain distance/ time from the main depot>
Click to expand...

No requirement now, but your responsibility to get yourself to work.
 
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Gemz91

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What language do the signal men in France speak to you? Just got me wandering if fluent French is not needed.
 
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Llama

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You don't need fluent French as a recruit, but you will need to learn the language, as Flash said above.
 
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Gemz91

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Llama said:
You don't need fluent French as a recruit, but you will need to learn the language, as Flash said above.
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Yes, I gathered that. So is all communication done in French in France? (Seems a daft question I know).

Just got me wandering, if your passing safety critical information between two parties, you'd still need quite a high level of French? Alot more then you'd need at GCSE French? If I was being told to pass at signal at danger, I'd want to know for certain that's what he told me to do.
 
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flash

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Gemz91 said:
Yes, I gathered that. So is all communication done in French in France? (Seems a daft question I know).

Just got me wandering, if your passing safety critical information between two parties, you'd still need quite a high level of French? Alot more then you'd need at GCSE French? If I was being told to pass at signal at danger, I'd want to know for certain that's what he told me to do.
Click to expand...

Seems that understanding a language seems to be a problem for some!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE FRENCH TO START, NEW RECRUITS ARE TAUGHT FRENCH WITHIN THE COMPANY. YOU NEED TO SPEAK ENGLISH TO SIGNALMAN IN ENGLAND AND FRENCH TO SIGNALMAN IN FRANCE AND BELGUIM.

Drivers are taught french to beyond GCSE level - some 600hrs of language training.

Is that clear enough?
 
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SkinnyDave

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flash said:
Seems that understanding a language seems to be a problem for some!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE FRENCH TO START, NEW RECRUITS ARE TAUGHT FRENCH WITHIN THE COMPANY. YOU NEED TO SPEAK ENGLISH TO SIGNALMAN IN ENGLAND AND FRENCH TO SIGNALMAN IN FRANCE AND BELGUIM.

Drivers are taught french to beyond GCSE level - some 600hrs of language training.

Is that clear enough?
Click to expand...

Do they still offer staff a hotel room the night before if it is an early start? I'm sure I read that somewhere
 
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Gemz91

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flash said:
Seems that understanding a language seems to be a problem for some!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE FRENCH TO START, NEW RECRUITS ARE TAUGHT FRENCH WITHIN THE COMPANY. YOU NEED TO SPEAK ENGLISH TO SIGNALMAN IN ENGLAND AND FRENCH TO SIGNALMAN IN FRANCE AND BELGUIM.

Drivers are taught french to beyond GCSE level - some 600hrs of language training.

Is that clear enough?
Click to expand...

Cheers for the answer. Can't understand why the attitude though. I was simply asking what level of French you would be taught, which until you said, was not covered in this thread.
 
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greatkingrat

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Reminds me of the possibly apocryphal story about the Eurostar driver who encountered a deer on the tracks, and described it to the French signaller as "a cow with a pantograph".
 
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