• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

A career as a signaller

Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

T

Tom Quinne

On Moderation
Joined
8 Jul 2017
Messages
2,225
OverTheRails said:
Sorry if this has been asked, I searched but nothing came up.
Ridgmont has a Grade 4 relief with 4% flexibility premium. Can anyone tell me what this means pay wise (rough take home) and shifts (are they 8h or 12h shifts, what are people’s view on relief work vs more fixed? Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

4% is of your base salary whatever that is for grade 4. It’s paid each BOOKED turn you work, not RDW also paid each month as “FP” on your slip.

Ridgemont Relief is just a single location now, the Relief is historical from the pre Resignalling days when you had a number of SB along the line from Bletchley to Bedford.

Having been a resident, and now Relief I much prefer Relief - that’s mainly down to my personal Preference to night turns on Relief at my SB we tend to get a lot of nights compared to days.

I would say though if you need a roster where you know what you’ll be working weeks in advance, Relief isn’t for you. We get our work for the next week on Thursday dinner time, the only thing you know is your booked days of work each week, the actual turn is a surprise until the roster comes out.
 
C

CozMorGla

New Member
Joined
5 Jun 2019
Messages
1
Hi all, still working my way through the thread but thought I'd say hello!

Applied for the Central Scotland roles, got invited to test and been told I met the benchmark in testing. On the job page it's still sitting at Test Completed rather than passed or anything like that, is this normal?

Anyone else going for the Scotland jobs at any other stage of the process?
 
T

Tom Quinne

On Moderation
Joined
8 Jul 2017
Messages
2,225
Ridgemont as a SB is a nice little number from what I can gather, one train per hour each way - a East and West panel so double manned on days, not sure about night turns.

Very little freight, but a number of MCB crossings to operate.
 
Rockhopper

Rockhopper

Member
Joined
29 Apr 2019
Messages
736
CozMorGla said:
Hi all, still working my way through the thread but thought I'd say hello!

Applied for the Central Scotland roles, got invited to test and been told I met the benchmark in testing. On the job page it's still sitting at Test Completed rather than passed or anything like that, is this normal?

Anyone else going for the Scotland jobs at any other stage of the process?
Click to expand...

Yes, it’ll stay like that for months most likely.
 
G

Garion

Member
Joined
5 Jun 2019
Messages
6
Hi all. Does anyone have any useful information (shifts etc) regarding the Kirton Lime Sidings SB? A few vacancies have just come up and it’s very local to myself, however a lower grade than the positions I’ve been looking at. Just wondering what it’s like and if I’ll be able to pay the mortgage and whatnot on grade 2 at that specific box.

Thanks in advance.
 
Chumba

Chumba

Member
Joined
13 May 2019
Messages
164
Does anyone know which other boxes would be covered by Arundel relief signaller ? Thanks.
 
C

Cavan

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2017
Messages
278
Many boxes have already been discussed on this thread so it is a really useful resource - have you tried searching? The info you want is there! You can choose to "search this thread" only in the search function.
 
S

Seishin

Member
Joined
31 May 2018
Messages
26
Rockhopper said:
Yes, it’ll stay like that for months most likely.
Click to expand...

My application for Inverness and Aberdeen which closed recently has turned to invite to assessment 2 pending so seems like they’re not hanging about on this one. The speed of it actually makes me worried it might be a mistake.
 
Highlandspring

Highlandspring

Established Member
Joined
14 Oct 2017
Messages
2,777
Seishin said:
My application for Inverness and Aberdeen which closed recently has turned to invite to assessment 2 pending so seems like they’re not hanging about on this one. The speed of it actually makes me worried it might be a mistake.
Click to expand...
It may sit at that for weeks and weeks though.
 
Chaz T

Chaz T

Member
Joined
6 Jun 2019
Messages
41
Location
The Shire
Hi all. Just come across this forum after applying for a Grade 2 position at Heckington in Lincolnshire and then deciding to do a little more research about the role.

I had already read a number of posts on other sites that generally rate the company and the job as good.

I have seen a couple of people on here have already applied for this post earlier in the year. I can't quite figure out why the job advert has been running for so long. Surely it isn't that difficult to find a suitable candidate in Lincolnshire?
 
M

Mordueman

Member
Joined
23 May 2019
Messages
29
Do you still get free travel once you become an employee?
I used it a lot when I last worked on the railway, I noticed that the job description said 75 % off season tickets, which is nice if you are a commuter from one station to another, I used to enjoy trips out on my days off, or has that long gone for new employees?
 
Highlandspring

Highlandspring

Established Member
Joined
14 Oct 2017
Messages
2,777
Mordueman said:
Do you still get free travel once you become an employee?
I used it a lot when I last worked on the railway, I noticed that the job description said 75 % off season tickets, which is nice if you are a commuter from one station to another, I used to enjoy trips out on my days off, or has that long gone for new employees?
Click to expand...
Long gone for most Network Rail staff. Anyone employed by Railtrack/Network Rail after 2nd April 1994 doesn’t get an ATOC priv card or boxes. Staff employed up to 1st April 1994 retain their travel under BR terms & conditions, this is known as being ‘safeguarded’ but if you left and lost your travel you won’t get it back. This was done on the basis that Railtrack was an engineering company not a railway company and so began the massive fall from grace of the professional railway operators. Some areas of Network Rail have reached various private arrangements with TOCs:

Wessex Route former South West Alliance staff - free travel on South Western Railways services on production of appropriate card but I have no idea whether this is the case for new employees.

Western Route staff - some sort of heavily discounted ticket scheme on GWR services but I don’t know the details.

All Routes - 20% discount for all NR staff on Virgin Trains West Coast advanced fares when booked through special website portal, requires NR ID when tickets are shown. I have actually used this and it works well.
 
G

godfreycomplex

Established Member
Joined
23 Jun 2016
Messages
1,298
Highlandspring said:
Wessex Route former South West Alliance staff - free travel on South Western Railways services on production of appropriate card but I have no idea whether this is the case for new employees.
Click to expand...
It is indeed extended to new employees on Wessex route (and has been guaranteed until the end of the current First franchise)
 
O

OverTheRails

Member
Joined
7 Apr 2019
Messages
27
Tom Quinne said:
4% is of your base salary whatever that is for grade 4. It’s paid each BOOKED turn you work, not RDW also paid each month as “FP” on your slip.

Ridgemont Relief is just a single location now, the Relief is historical from the pre Resignalling days when you had a number of SB along the line from Bletchley to Bedford.

Having been a resident, and now Relief I much prefer Relief - that’s mainly down to my personal Preference to night turns on Relief at my SB we tend to get a lot of nights compared to days.

I would say though if you need a roster where you know what you’ll be working weeks in advance, Relief isn’t for you. We get our work for the next week on Thursday dinner time, the only thing you know is your booked days of work each week, the actual turn is a surprise until the roster comes out.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this!!
Do you know if it’s a 8h or 12h shift pattern! When you say you only find out on Thursday what shifts you’re doing do you still know what days you’re working for the weeks ahead (I.e could you see if you were working in 6 weeks time on a certain day but just not what times)
Thanks again
 
T

Tom Quinne

On Moderation
Joined
8 Jul 2017
Messages
2,225
I’m afraid I don’t know if their 8 or 12s, not my route - I’d guess it’s 12hrs but I can say 100%.

You can roll out your base roster for as long as you want to see your rest days yes, I know what I’m working upto next Xmas on this principle - but like I say the actual turn of work is a surprise until the roster comes out.
 
Llanigraham

Llanigraham

On Moderation
Joined
23 Mar 2013
Messages
6,103
Location
Powys
nom de guerre said:
Out of curiosity, what form of NR ID do you have?

I’ve been with NR for nearly a decade and have never been issued with my own company ID.
Click to expand...

Our LOM produced one of his own design for all the staff under his control. Very professional and was accepted everywhere I had to use it.

This intrigues me:
Highlandspring said:
All Routes - 20% discount for all NR staff on Virgin Trains West Coast advanced fares when booked through special website portal, requires NR ID when tickets are shown. I have actually used this and it works well.
Click to expand...
I use VTWC often and would love to know whether it applies to retired staff?
 
Highlandspring

Highlandspring

Established Member
Joined
14 Oct 2017
Messages
2,777
nom de guerre said:
Out of curiosity, what form of NR ID do you have?

I’ve been with NR for nearly a decade and have never been issued with my own company ID.
Click to expand...
A Sentinel card and two building passes. I also have a 15 year old SCWID card which seems to have a photo of a teenager with hair on it so probably wouldn’t bear close scrutiny...
 
MostlyHarmless

MostlyHarmless

Member
Joined
1 Mar 2018
Messages
988
Rockhopper said:
Have a calculator, pen and paper handy. And swat up on percentages.
Click to expand...

Wise words indeed! The numerical reasoning test was much harder than the test questions and I struggled and thought I'd blown it. However I've just received an email to say that I passed the assessments!
 
Chaz T

Chaz T

Member
Joined
6 Jun 2019
Messages
41
Location
The Shire
MostlyHarmless said:
Wise words indeed! The numerical reasoning test was much harder than the test questions and I struggled and thought I'd blown it. However I've just received an email to say that I passed the assessments!
Click to expand...

Hi, I am trying to find advice on proceeding with my application for Signaller Grade 2. I completed the online application last night at about 8pm and have received an email this afternoon asking me to complete the 3 online assessments.

Would anyone be kind enough to offer any insight into what I am to expect? Not looking for the answers, obviously, just a few pointers. I had already decided that a calculator, pen and paper would be a given. It's more about how tight the times are for completing each of the 3 tests and what sort of information I should swat up on.

I am sure that the information I need is already in this forum thread and am trying hard to search for it. But I am finding the fact that I have got through the initial application so quickly a bit overwhelming. Especially as I've been in the same job now for nearly 20 years and so not got any experience in the more modern methods of job application and online tests. To be honest, my interview experience is not that well practiced as my current job was virtually a chat in the local pub.

Thanks for any pointers anyone can offer.
 
MostlyHarmless

MostlyHarmless

Member
Joined
1 Mar 2018
Messages
988
Chaz T said:
Hi, I am trying to find advice on proceeding with my application for Signaller Grade 2. I completed the online application last night at about 8pm and have received an email this afternoon asking me to complete the 3 online assessments.

Would anyone be kind enough to offer any insight into what I am to expect? Not looking for the answers, obviously, just a few pointers. I had already decided that a calculator, pen and paper would be a given. It's more about how tight the times are for completing each of the 3 tests and what sort of information I should swat up on.

I am sure that the information I need is already in this forum thread and am trying hard to search for it. But I am finding the fact that I have got through the initial application so quickly a bit overwhelming. Especially as I've been in the same job now for nearly 20 years and so not got any experience in the more modern methods of job application and online tests. To be honest, my interview experience is not that well practiced as my current job was virtually a chat in the local pub.

Thanks for any pointers anyone can offer.
Click to expand...

So the tests I did were as below. I'm guessing the tests are the same regardless of the role you are applying for.

Situational Judgement - You are given a hypothetical scenario to read after which you select the most helpful and least helpful actions from 3 (or 4) possibilities. Can't remember how many questions in total there were but there isn't a time limit

Verbal Reasoning - You are given a paragraph to read in which an number of facts and statements are made. You then are given 4 statements relating to the paragraph and you have to select the one that is true or if none of them are accurate then 'can't tell' . I think there were around 30 questions and you had about 18 minutes to do as many as you can

Numerical Reasoning. You are given a table of data and then asked a question about it of which they give you 4 possible answers. Its largely based around percentages and so the paper and calculator will be needed. I think there were 18 questions and you had 17 minutes to complete as many as you can. I did 12 and that was pushing it!

With the timed questions then the usual rule applies about not working on one question for too long applies.

Make sure you do the practice tests and that you have Flash Player installed

Hope this helps and good luck!
 
Chaz T

Chaz T

Member
Joined
6 Jun 2019
Messages
41
Location
The Shire
MostlyHarmless said:
So the tests I did were as below. I'm guessing the tests are the same regardless of the role you are applying for.

Situational Judgement - You are given a hypothetical scenario to read after which you select the most helpful and least helpful actions from 3 (or 4) possibilities. Can't remember how many questions in total there were but there isn't a time limit

Verbal Reasoning - You are given a paragraph to read in which an number of facts and statements are made. You then are given 4 statements relating to the paragraph and you have to select the one that is true or if none of them are accurate then 'can't tell' . I think there were around 30 questions and you had about 18 minutes to do as many as you can

Numerical Reasoning. You are given a table of data and then asked a question about it of which they give you 4 possible answers. Its largely based around percentages and so the paper and calculator will be needed. I think there were 18 questions and you had 17 minutes to complete as many as you can. I did 12 and that was pushing it!

With the timed questions then the usual rule applies about not working on one question for too long applies.

Make sure you do the practice tests and that you have Flash Player installed

Hope this helps and good luck!
Click to expand...


Thank you MostlyHarmless.

That is a great help.

The time for the verbal reasoning worries me though, I am not a quick reader. The maths one is more in my comfort zone as that has always been a strong point for me.

Your comment about Flash Player has me worried though, I only have a Chromebook and know it can be a little quirky sometimes. Looks like a trip to see my daughter to use her PC to make sure I can complete everything correctly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top