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Qualified Drivers Scotrail

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DarkIsland

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Hi everyone, long time watcher, first post so here goes.......

Hopefully there are some Scotrail drivers whose brains I can pick about specifics and any other drivers for that matter regarding applying as a qualified driver.

Im a qualified driver of 2 years and a depot driver before that for 1 year with a clean safety record. I like the area where I live and the routes/traction I drive but having seen this vacency, for personal reasons, I am seriously considering applying.

So Scotrail have positions available for qualified drivers on the abellio website, the location stated is simply 'Scotland' Does this mean every depot is in need of drivers? I have heard and read they are short on drivers across the country.

Final question for now, as a qualified driver needing to update my CV (my one currently being the one I used when applying for trainee depot driver) how much detail, if any, do you go into regarding things like routes and traction or am I overthinking things in that respect?

All help is greatly received :) Ill leave it there for now!
 
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RailUK Forums

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Scotrail is desperate for drivers, hundreds leaving for Transpennnine, Virgin & freight.
Morale at an all time low amongst drivers, jobs are the worst they've been in my 15 years, no investment from Abellio, the trains are being held together by the dirt on them.
What depot would you fancy? Where do you live?
 

Set_DRA

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Scotrail is desperate for drivers, hundreds leaving for Transpennnine, Virgin & freight.
Morale at an all time low amongst drivers, jobs are the worst they've been in my 15 years, no investment from Abellio, the trains are being held together by the dirt on them.
What depot would you fancy? Where do you live?


Same as Greater Anglia then...another Abellio ballsup
 

DarkIsland

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Sounds very familair! I currently work for an Abellio toc in England (so a relocation is needed)
Depot wise, I dont really have a preference as I dont know enough about the depots in any depth. Currently I do rural routes by DMUs and an intercity service LHCS. That is certainly more my cup of tea as opposed to.metro work (if I get a say in it!) Do you work for scotrail Willie Mcbeath?
 
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OpsWeb

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Unless you **really** want to move to Scotland, I would seriously look at virtually any other TOC. ScotRail is losing more drivers than it can train at the moment. The T&C's are some of the worst I've seen. Also, if you ever did want to leave - you have to give 6 months notice (which is incompatible with a lot of recruiting TOC's), they also get very very few qualified's applying for them. GWR seem very good at the minute for employing qualified drivers...
 

DarkIsland

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The move is purely a personal move as opposed to wanting to leave my current TOC. The jobs and work where I am at present are quite enjoyable in my eyes. How bad are the Ts and Cs? Do you have any examples? Having only worked for one TOC, I dont really know how mine compare so would be interesting to compare. Surely the 6 month notice is taken into account as they are advertising for qualified drivers though?
 

OpsWeb

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I believe a former SR employee said it was a 39 hour week, 150 stops a day, DOO in the Glasgow region, RDW is very few and far between and the management style left rather a lot to be desired. Also the pay isn't that good according to the Aslef website. The Scottish Government are I suspect wanting to make it state owned again (they've already disbanded the BTP up there). Without getting into a political arguement regarding state ownership - i can see RPMI vanishing up there with staff moving onto the Scottish Government pension scheme.
 

lammergeier

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I can imagine DOO and 150 stops a day around Glasgow isn't much fun, but I can't think of many places with more scenic route cards than Perth, Inverness or Fort William depots.
 

DarkIsland

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The advert states a 35 hour week. I dont want DOO ideally! The stops would vary with each depot though and the routes you sign. If they are short on drivers then surely RDW would be in abundance?
As for pay, yes I see they they are not the highest, but neither is my TOC.
Interesting points you make regarding state ownership though! What times we live in!
 

DarkIsland

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I couldn't agree more! That would be more the line of work I would be looking for as its most similar to what I currently do. Im yet to find out though where the vacancies are for, the job advert just states 'Scotland'
 

Tyrion

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I believe a former SR employee said it was a 39 hour week, 150 stops a day, DOO in the Glasgow region, RDW is very few and far between and the management style left rather a lot to be desired. Also the pay isn't that good according to the Aslef website. The Scottish Government are I suspect wanting to make it state owned again (they've already disbanded the BTP up there). Without getting into a political arguement regarding state ownership - i can see RPMI vanishing up there with staff moving onto the Scottish Government pension scheme.


With the exception of the points of management and some Glasgow depots doing a lot of stops the rest of it is grossly inaccurate!
 

Tyrion

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The advert states a 35 hour week. I dont want DOO ideally! The stops would vary with each depot though and the routes you sign. If they are short on drivers then surely RDW would be in abundance?
As for pay, yes I see they they are not the highest, but neither is my TOC.
Interesting points you make regarding state ownership though! What times we live in!
Inverness, Aberdeen, and Perth depots for variety of traction and routes would be the three I would aim for but Perth you would have a long waiting period to get onto HST links, Aberdeen and Inverness are very good depots.
 

DarkIsland

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Inverness, Aberdeen, and Perth depots for variety of traction and routes would be the three I would aim for but Perth you would have a long waiting period to get onto HST links, Aberdeen and Inverness are very good depots.
Thank you Tyrion! Do you drive for Scotrail?
What are the Edinburgh depots like?
 

Tyrion

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Thank you Tyrion! Do you drive for Scotrail?
What are the Edinburgh depots like?

I did up until recently, Edinburgh has a decent route card and various traction however their work content is very intense compared to the three depots I mentioned earlier. You have Tweedbank and Bathgate with the latter doing a lot of stops and DOO in the area as well..
 

Chuggington21

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Edinburgh has a range of routes and traction. But cam he intense.
There is loads of rest day working
 

Gedphones

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I am an maintenance electrician working for a Glasgow company which mainly maintains GHA properties....you can probably guess which company. I bloody hate it. I have a day at the assessment centre for Scotrail for a trainee driver post on Wednesday. I thought a driver would be infinitely more enjoyable than what I do now(endless trivial jobs that are classed as emergencies when they rarely are.....no credit in pre payment meters to name but one) however reading this thread it would seem working for Scotrail is just as stressful. Is it?
 

Chuggington21

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I am an maintenance electrician working for a Glasgow company which mainly maintains GHA properties....you can probably guess which company. I bloody hate it. I have a day at the assessment centre for Scotrail for a trainee driver post on Wednesday. I thought a driver would be infinitely more enjoyable than what I do now(endless trivial jobs that are classed as emergencies when they rarely are.....no credit in pre payment meters to name but one) however reading this thread it would seem working for Scotrail is just as stressful. Is it?

No mate as a trainee coming into the job for the 1st time you will love the job you won't know any better. However not alot of drivers leave otherTOC tocome to scotrail
 

scotraildriver

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You generally find that people who come into the job from other industries love it and the pay, terms and conditions are fabulous compared to what they did previously. Large numbers join from the emergency services and ive never heard anyone that regrets it. People that have always worked in the railway and have never known anything else think it's terrible. It's not. It really is a great job. I get more money now for half the hours I used to do, and my time off is my own. No phone calls, hassles and if I want to work my day off I'm paid handsomely on my terms. People are leaving but only because TPE happen to be offering more money for essentially the same job. Virtually no one leaves the actual job for something outside the railway and that speaks volumes. People will slate the job in messrooms and forums like this but deep down know what a great thing they've got.
 
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talltim

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Glasgow Scotrail depot is going to desperately short of drivers soon, with about 30 leaving to go to the new TPE depot and other operators
 

DarkIsland

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I did up until recently, Edinburgh has a decent route card and various traction however their work content is very intense compared to the three depots I mentioned earlier. You have Tweedbank and Bathgate with the latter doing a lot of stops and DOO in the area as well..
Do you mind me asking why you left and where were you based? There seems to be much negativity about Scotrail so was curious if it was for that, I certainly dont mean to pry at all. Do you know if the vacancies are for every depot then?
 

DarkIsland

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Would anyone be able to shed any light on an updated CV as a qualified driver. Do you Include routes and traction and other details about your depot or is that unnecessary and something they will find out when they request your details from your TOC for safety record ect?
 

OpsWeb

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It seems to me as if you have already made up your mind irrespective of this thread. I've personally spoke with Qualified Driver's coming into our TOC from ScotRail and not a single one has been complimentary in any way shape or form of them. I think we've only taken on 11 Qualified's over the last year or so, 9 of which have come from ScotRail. From memory they were from Glasgow/Helensburgh depots and a couple from Edinburgh.
 
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DarkIsland

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Well on a personal level (hobbies) it makes sense now and something Ive been consodering for a number of years, moving north. Maybe a stepping stone towards EC driving out of Edinburgh for whoever has the franchise is, one day.
What issues did they have with Scotrail?
 

Railwayman13

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Guys

Can I also ask how are scotrail with honouring a pre booked holiday? I am due to start in April and have 10 days booked in November for a trip to the states, all paid for. Will they be okay with this given it would be my first year?
 

scotraildriver

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Guys

Can I also ask how are scotrail with honouring a pre booked holiday? I am due to start in April and have 10 days booked in November for a trip to the states, all paid for. Will they be okay with this given it would be my first year?

You will normally be following your instructors holidays when training so you'd need to find out when they are off. You'll probably find it'll be fine but it's not guaranteed. The training is fairly flexible.
 

Simonrammy

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An old thread but any update on how you got on please? I’m a similar situation so would be great to get an insud
 
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