Salary Drop for a Trainee Driver

ST · 11 Sep 2018

Hello all,

I have been watching threads for a while now and really appreciate the support and openness from contributors.

I however have a question in relation to drop in pay to a trainee role, if I can ask for feedback please......

I am currently on around £60k and budgeted for the two years it will take me to become (hopefully) qualified as a mainline train driver, I have gone quite a way down the recruitment process, so my conscience is having a good chat with me now about the drop in pay and new role......I suppose it is nerves?!

Is anyone or has anyone been in the same boat or earning even more and made the change? Have there been any regrets? I currently work for a Govt Department and to be honest I am really excited about the potential change.....but I do have the above on my mind so wanted to bring it to the forum for your thoughts. I do not take for granted that I am in a fortunate position and I sincerely hope I do not cause any upset in me asking the above.

Many thanks in advance.

RailUK Forums

Aivilo · 11 Sep 2018

My honest opinion based on the above is to not worry. You have clearly done your research on the role and its process so keep going and good luck

ST · 11 Sep 2018

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for your encouragement .

Komma · 11 Sep 2018

I have not had to take as big a drop in money as that, but as a guard last year I took home 47,000 doing lots of overtime and I am going driving at the end of the year. It will result in short term pain for me and the family, but the pay and the quality of life at the end of the day will be worth it. If you want the change of career and are prepared to put in the hard work, then it is more than worth it, good luck fella.

ST · 11 Sep 2018

Thanks very much, all the best to you!

scotraildriver · 11 Sep 2018

It's a common thing this. My mortgage company (nationwide) allowed me to pay interest only for the duration of the training. I just had to show evidence it was temporary.

ST · 11 Sep 2018

Great idea.....Thank you.

Skyrail · 11 Sep 2018

I have recently been offered a position as trainee driver and am about to resign a job in which I earnt nearly 90k last year. For me it is a no brainer long term. I damn near killed myself for that salary and never had time to enjoy it. I lost my relationship due to strain of the job too. The only positive is that I am fortunate enough to have banked enough money to see me through driver training, which I appreciate many aren't able to do.

My soon to be ex job is in corporate medical sales and I cannot wait to leave it behind. The thought that I'll soon be driving is better for my mental health than any amount of money I can earn selling my soul for a corporate dollar. I have no doubts, OP, that if you are ready for the change, you'll embrace it and never look back. I wish you luck!

ST · 11 Sep 2018

Wow, so pleasing you have managed to get offered a position, your story is inspiring. Many thanks for your kind words, I too wish you all the best.

Timpg · 12 Sep 2018

Hi there, I have also been offered a position as a trainee train driver with my FOC in the next 6 months, pending medical of which I’m attending later today. I will admit, after earning around 50k per year and being the single earner of a household of 4. I am rather concerned about the drop in wages during the training period, mainly the classroom period, learning the rules and regs. I am fortunate that there has been a fair bit of overtime recently, so I have been trying to put in every hour I can. But my partner also stated, they we may be entitled to working tax credits as the salaries will be very low to begin with? All I know, it will be worth it in the long run!!

Johncleesefan · 12 Sep 2018

I was fortunate and didn’t need to worry about this as even the trainer rate was a step up from my then salary.

Sounds like you know what you are doing and so long as you have effectively budgeted to cover yourself during the training period, ie considered cancelling any luxury debits for the duration then you should be good to go. Do you know what the qualified salary is for the toc in question as 60k is a rather high salary for drivers unless a few rest days are worked. Not to say it’s unachieveble as I hit 60 usually by working 1 rest day a week thus making my 4 day week a 5 day week. Hope any of this helps you and feel free to ask any questions.

ST · 12 Sep 2018

Timpg said:
Hi there, I have also been offered a position as a trainee train driver with my FOC in the next 6 months, pending medical of which I’m attending later today. I will admit, after earning around 50k per year and being the single earner of a household of 4. I am rather concerned about the drop in wages during the training period, mainly the classroom period, learning the rules and regs. I am fortunate that there has been a fair bit of overtime recently, so I have been trying to put in every hour I can. But my partner also stated, they we may be entitled to working tax credits as the salaries will be very low to begin with? All I know, it will be worth it in the long run!!

Thank you for this. I am also the main bread winner and you are right with the Tax Credits and perhaps others. Not done this for a while but will need to look into. Good luck to you!

ST · 12 Sep 2018

Johncleesefan said:
I was fortunate and didn’t need to worry about this as even the trainer rate was a step up from my then salary.

Sounds like you know what you are doing and so long as you have effectively budgeted to cover yourself during the training period, ie considered cancelling any luxury debits for the duration then you should be good to go. Do you know what the qualified salary is for the toc in question as 60k is a rather high salary for drivers unless a few rest days are worked. Not to say it’s unachieveble as I hit 60 usually by working 1 rest day a week thus making my 4 day week a 5 day week. Hope any of this helps you and feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks you for this. The TOC I am progressing with currently tops out at 48k but will hopefully be 52k by the time I get there all being well. Yes, I would be open to working the odd rest day to add additonal income, I would definitely want to be able to enjoy some quality time off, taking the boss and kids out for trips on the railways! All the best to you.

lammergeier · 12 Sep 2018

Sharetrades said:
Hello all,

I have been watching threads for a while now and really appreciate the support and openness from contributors.

I however have a question in relation to drop in pay to a trainee role, if I can ask for feedback please......

I am currently on around £60k and budgeted for the two years it will take me to become (hopefully) qualified as a mainline train driver, I have gone quite a way down the recruitment process, so my conscience is having a good chat with me now about the drop in pay and new role......I suppose it is nerves?!

Is anyone or has anyone been in the same boat or earning even more and made the change? Have there been any regrets? I currently work for a Govt Department and to be honest I am really excited about the potential change.....but I do have the above on my mind so wanted to bring it to the forum for your thoughts. I do not take for granted that I am in a fortunate position and I sincerely hope I do not cause any upset in me asking the above.

Many thanks in advance.

It's good that you have budgeted for two years but it is extremely unlikely it will take you that long to qualify, unless other factors come into play such as non availability of instructors. In those cases there's often an agreement where trainee pay goes up after a set time.

If you are lucky and get a minder/instructor quickly and don't take any leave then there's usually no reason why you cannot qualify in 9-12 months.

Obviously then you may have to wait a bit longer to go onto full pay, some companies have a tiered pay system although the step up when you qualify is usually the largest by far.

GMT · 12 Sep 2018

I suppose you are not enjoying your current job, possibly you are feeling stale and not stimulated. Therefore hold on and try to achieve your new target. Your health is more important than your pocket. Good luck.

ST · 12 Sep 2018

lammergeier said:
It's good that you have budgeted for two years but it is extremely unlikely it will take you that long to qualify, unless other factors come into play such as non availability of instructors. In those cases there's often an agreement where trainee pay goes up after a set time.

If you are lucky and get a minder/instructor quickly and don't take any leave then there's usually no reason why you cannot qualify in 9-12 months.

Obviously then you may have to wait a bit longer to go onto full pay, some companies have a tiered pay system although the step up when you qualify is usually the largest by far.

Many thanks for your response.

ST · 12 Sep 2018

GMT said:
I suppose you are not enjoying your current job, possibly you are feeling stale and not stimulated. Therefore hold on and try to achieve your new target. Your health is more important than your pocket. Good luck.

Are you a mind reader?!......this is spot on. Coupled with the fact that I have longer to work up to State Retirement Age than I have already worked..... all the comments have been so helpful. All the best to you.

GMT · 12 Sep 2018

Sharetrades said:
Are you a mind reader?!......this is spot on. Coupled with the fact that I have longer to work up to State Retirement Age than I have already worked..... all the comments have been so helpful. All the best to you.

I heard of somebody working for a dept of the Government, very good salary but very long hours and quite a bit of pressure.

hooverboy · 12 Sep 2018

GMT said:
I heard of somebody working for a dept of the Government, very good salary but very long hours and quite a bit of pressure.

true at senior level...mainly because most of the people in politics/government are complete idiots,so you have to spend most of the time fielding their questions and preparing professional sounding statements and statistics.(my aunt was a parliamentary advisor in HM treasury so that's how I know!)

ST · 12 Sep 2018

hooverboy said:
true at senior level...mainly because most of the people in politics/government are complete idiots,so you have to spend most of the time fielding their questions and preparing professional sounding statements and statistics.(my aunt was a parliamentary advisor in HM treasury so that's how I know!)

Thankfully I'm not that senior

ST · 12 Sep 2018

GMT said:
I heard of somebody working for a dept of the Government, very good salary but very long hours and quite a bit of pressure.

Yes, that's right. I miss having job satisfaction and look forward to getting some back (fingers crossed)

richw · 12 Sep 2018

I'm at a stage in life where I want to enjoy my work, so have just taken a pay cut myself to do something I think I'll enjoy and interests me. I did all the sums and ensured the new role would cover my essentials plus a bit extra, and I looked where I can cut back if necessary (We've had 4 holidays in 2018 for example, Top sky TV package, 2 Decent cars, one of which has only covered 3000 miles between last MOTs, I'd also spent considerably on home improvements which I am now at a stage I am happy with the house so no more of that). When dissecting outgoings there is a lot of expenditure I don't need, but means I can enjoy every day, rather than just my days off!

ST · 12 Sep 2018

richw said:
I'm at a stage in life where I want to enjoy my work, so have just taken a pay cut myself to do something I think I'll enjoy and interests me. I did all the sums and ensured the new role would cover my essentials plus a bit extra, and I looked where I can cut back if necessary (We've had 4 holidays in 2018 for example, Top sky TV package, 2 Decent cars, one of which has only covered 3000 miles between last MOTs, I'd also spent considerably on home improvements which I am now at a stage I am happy with the house so no more of that). When dissecting outgoings there is a lot of expenditure I don't need, but means I can enjoy every day, rather than just my days off!

Fantastic...... the essence of your post captures where my head is at. So much so that I am also looking forward to hopefully having family days out seeing the UK using our Trains as the primary mode of transport.

ST · 12 Sep 2018

richw said:
I'm at a stage in life where I want to enjoy my work, so have just taken a pay cut myself to do something I think I'll enjoy and interests me. I did all the sums and ensured the new role would cover my essentials plus a bit extra, and I looked where I can cut back if necessary (We've had 4 holidays in 2018 for example, Top sky TV package, 2 Decent cars, one of which has only covered 3000 miles between last MOTs, I'd also spent considerably on home improvements which I am now at a stage I am happy with the house so no more of that). When dissecting outgoings there is a lot of expenditure I don't need, but means I can enjoy every day, rather than just my days off!

Sorry forgot to ask, are you a Trainee Driver or another role?

richw · 12 Sep 2018

Sharetrades said:
Sorry forgot to ask, are you a Trainee Driver or another role?

I'm not on the railway, but the outcome is still the same, a lower income.

ST · 12 Sep 2018

Great news.....there really is more to life. All the best to you.

Stevec101 · 16 Sep 2018

Sharetrades said:
Hello all,

I have been watching threads for a while now and really appreciate the

I however have a question in relation to drop in pay to a trainee role, if I can ask for feedback please......

I am currently on around £60k and budgeted for the two years it will take me to become (hopefully) qualified as a mainline train driver, I have gone quite a way down the recruitment process, so my conscience is having a good chat with me now about the drop in pay and new role......I suppose it is nerves?!

Is anyone or has anyone been in the same boat or earning even more and made the change? Have there been any regrets? I currently work for a Govt Department and to be honest I am really excited about the potential change.....but I do have the above on my mind so wanted to bring it to the forum for your thoughts. I do not take for granted that I am in a fortunate position and I sincerely hope I do not cause any upset in me asking the above.

Many thanks in advance.

Back in 1999 I was in the engineering industry. I'd been there since leaving school in 90. However I knew I'd made a mistake. Manufacturing was dying a slow death. I was earning around 19k.
I'd been thinking about applying as a driver for a while. At the time virgin were paying about 28k regional operators anything from 20.500 at Wales and west to 25k at central. I decided to go for it as it was more about the safety of the job than the wages. I go on at first north West and my training wage was 11k. It was a difficult 12 months but I've never looked back. The shifts are difficult but balance tgat against only working 4days. The pay now is fantastic but even in the early days when I was earning considerably more i was much better off.
Less working days
Less hours
More job security
Good pension

ST · 16 Sep 2018

Stevec101 said:
Back in 1999 I was in the engineering industry. I'd been there since leaving school in 90. However I knew I'd made a mistake. Manufacturing was dying a slow death. I was earning around 19k.
I'd been thinking about applying as a driver for a while. At the time virgin were paying about 28k regional operators anything from 20.500 at Wales and west to 25k at central. I decided to go for it as it was more about the safety of the job than the wages. I go on at first north West and my training wage was 11k. It was a difficult 12 months but I've never looked back. The shifts are difficult but balance tgat against only working 4days. The pay now is fantastic but even in the early days when I was earning considerably more i was much better off.
Less working days
Less hours
More job security
Good pension

Morning,

Many thanks for your insight.

Seeing all the responses has been really positive.

It has got me thinking however, there are (hopefully) colleagues in the industry whom have taken much larger pay cuts than me to train and then go on to drive trains. I have also seen threads on these forums' about the pro's and con's of driving trains.......but if any of you had to sum up you own experiences of the difference is has made to your life driving trains, including those whom have only worked for a TOC what choice of words would you use to describe this?

With best regards.

MidlandsChap · 16 Sep 2018

Is there anybody who has got into a trainee position who then earned more money then their previous job?

My application is currently under consideration, I am just now concerned being in a less difficult job might go against me when compared to other potential recruits.

ComUtoR · 16 Sep 2018

MidlandsChap said:
Is there anybody who has got into a trainee position who then earned more money then their previous job?

Yep. Went from crap money to a semi decent wage. (10+ yrs ago)

Salary Drop for a Trainee Driver

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