Overnight accommodation

I just wanted to very quickly query this.

When doing any training courses with a respective TOC, particularly if you have started a new job, do the TOC provide over night accommodation if you live quite a distance away? I appreciate that you have to live within 60 minutes drive of your work place but some training venues are nowhere near your station or depot.

I live in between Wigan and St Helens, but if I apply for a Cross Country role (say a Manchester based role), the training takes place in Derby which is quite a trek to commute to each day. Again I've applied for a Manchester based TPE role and their training takes place in Huddersfield - not too far across the Pennines but a hell of a journey on the M60/M62 every morning!!!

If I did a course I would much prefer to stay local to the training academy and get a good night's sleep and not have to contend with a long journey every morning.

Thanks for any advice.

C J

Depends on the company.

It is usually 90 minutes from your depot. Not your home address.

So Huddersfield is only around 40 mins dependant on stopping pattern.

I have had to travel for 3 hours for a course, and was offered accommodation for a location 10 mins from my house on other courses.

It is covered in the t&C's of each company.

Yeah my TOC provides a hotel with breakfast and food allowance included. I'm sure that's pretty standard across the industry.

It very much depends on the TOC. I know at XC that if you're based at Birmingham or Leicester then you are expected to commute to Derby.

It does vary. I know GWR do this if your work location is over 90 mins commute by rail from their training centres, as does Network Rail I believe. SWR on the other hand don’t do this as a rule, although their training location is pretty central to their network (they have a policy in place to supply accommodation but this is rarely used).

Spoke to a new Vic trainee this morning. Their induction has been at Ramsgate. Obviously with him being Vic based he lives near the depot.

With TPE it's your home depot distance from the training centre, it's obviously your choice where you live not theirs.
If you were doing say traction training in York as an example then you would be provided with accommodation and food as a return trip from Manchester each day would be unreasonable..
You get free travel on TPE trains while training so there is no expense there for you, Vic to Huddersfield is only 30 minutes so it's a bit unreasonable to expect them to fork out for a hotel and food.

Currently training for a conductor role with TFW, training in Chester but a guy on the course lives in Holyhead, so they have put him up Mon-Fri in the hotel, breakfast thrown in and 30 quid to spend on food a day! I wish I lived in Holyhead

Jamie Price said:

Currently training for a conductor role with TFW, training in Chester but a guy on the course lives in Holyhead, so they have put him up Mon-Fri in the hotel, breakfast thrown in and 30 quid to spend on food a day! I wish I lived in Holyhead

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A fiver more a night than I get, but mustn’t grumble I guess

Conversely, when I first started on the railway we spent three weeks commuting from St Pancras to Derby for our initial training (racking up overtime in the process, as we were paid from when we left to when we got back) and weren't offered accommodation.

Somewhat amusingly, accommodation was offered ahead of the assessment day for the job in question, however. Again, it was an early(ish) start in Derby.

Once, again thanks for the updates.

It's just something to bare in mind when applying for roles. A friend who works in the gas industry changed his job earlier in the year and had to do a course in Birmingham. He had to find his own accommodation during the week and he managed to get booked into a reasonably priced B&B that was far cheaper than the likes of the Travelodge or Premiere Inn. He got the landlady to write down all his bills individually for each night so he could claim back his expenses. However, his employers have still not forked out after six months! He's also had to stay over at places like Hull and Newcastle if he ends up on a big job and again he keeps his over night expenses but his employers are constantly dragging their feet and he's on the verge of resigning because any money he spends on overnight accommodation, he's not getting back.

Definately one to bare in mind. The TPE job I applied for is only a fixed term until March and even though they didn't disclose the salary when I applied, I suspect it is only slightly above minimum wage so I'm just trying to weigh up whether it's worth it in the long run, especially the first few weeks training and having to travel across to Huddersfield each day.

A neighbour of my mum's works as a lecturer in Bradford and leaves her house at 5.30 each morning to beat the traffic and sometimes only gets home well after 7pm. Definitely no work life balance but she's earning well over 40k a year which is some slight incentive.

The M60/M62 is an horrific stretch of motorway to contend with each morning and if I used the train I'd have to travel from Wigan North Western to Manchester Victoria and then get a second train across the Pennines and then of course vice versa for the return trip home. A very long day which is why I created this thread.

Once again thanks for the updates.

C J

Stigy said:

A fiver more a night than I get, but mustn’t grumble I guess

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He's landed on his feet there! I wouldn't have minded a nice residential 10 weeks lol, make the most of it mate!

Jamie Price said:

He's landed on his feet there! I wouldn't have minded a nice residential 10 weeks lol, make the most of it mate!

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It’s been about 16 for me so far! It’s nice to start with but gets a bit samey after a while