Suggestions for qualified driver relocating

SlimJim1694 · 27 Jan 2020

Just wondering what the best depots would be if looking to relocate away from the south east? I'm not bothered about money but quite fancy decent routes rather than stop-start metro work which I mostly do now. I've got a couple of door related incidents on my file but no spads or TPWS. Been driving nearly ten years. I wouldn't expect to get on with virgin or any of those type of firms but wondering who might entertain me and where might be good depots to look at and places to live. No kids, just me and partner. Am sick to death of my awful current company and London house prices and want a change of scene. Looking to draw up a shortlist of places to look at. Thanks in advance.

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ComUtoR · 27 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
Am sick to death of my awful current company and London house prices and want a change of scene. Looking to draw up a shortlist of places to look at. Thanks in advance.

We ain't that bad. Although we just lost one to EMR and a couple more leaning against the door with pending applications.

It will depend on where you want to live tbh. Most of those who have left recently have gone to TOCs because they have moved away to be with Girlfriends/Families etc so their choice was more limited to location rather than any specific TOC choice.

Some have gone to other London based TOCs and are pushing their commute, but if your desire to move is financial and that you can make a few quid by selling up and moving out of London and the South East then maybe look towards the coast. I know a Driver down in Penzance and he loves it down there. I have fiends down in Hampshire so I would consider moving to be closer to them in the coming years so South West would be my main option.

If your main desire to leave is because of the endless and soul destroying Metro work; maybe consider a Mainline move ?

In short, look at your reasons to leave/move and what your future priorities are.

SlimJim1694 · 27 Jan 2020

I know its not that bad. Mainly to do with house prices to be honest.

I see GWR have had adverts out for drivers in the west for ages which makes me suspicious about why they can't fill the posts. I'm happy to chug around the countryside on local branch lines, just dont want the urban stuff. A change is as good as a rest.

Aivilo · 27 Jan 2020

Depends on where you want to be. If I was to up sticks anywhere I'd personally be looking at the south west.

ComUtoR · 27 Jan 2020

I feel your pain tbh. I haven't got itchy feet for another TOC but I have been re-assessing my future for a few months now. Metro is hard going and staring into the future its not a bright and shiny one. With the paydeal on the table and most likely pretty grim once again, I too feel the need for a change.

I'm on the outskirts of London and the house prices are only going in one direction. If I was to move, I would need to push the coast (from around Ashford downwards) or head at least into the Midlands for a decent return and an option for somewhere to live.

Maybe speak to some of those who have left recently or are looking to jump the sinking ship. The ones I have spoken to had no intention of staying here and most new entrants now consider us to be a 'starter TOC'

SlimJim1694 · 27 Jan 2020

Aivilo said:
Depends on where you want to be. If I was to up sticks anywhere I'd personally be looking at the south west.

I'll go anywhere mate, as long as housing is affordable and there are nice areas to live in easily commutable from the depot. I'm slightly concerned that GWR have permanent adverts out for their SW depots. Makes me wonder why they can't fill the jobs.

Aivilo · 27 Jan 2020

North west, it's not all bad up there. Pm me if interested and I'll put you in touch with someone

Astro_Orbiter · 27 Jan 2020

I was this close to moving jobs to Norfolk a couple years ago as a driver but things changed personally and I pulled out. Nice corner of the world and quite decent and reasonable housing.
If I could go anywhere though it would definitely be to Devon or Cornwall. As good as it gets living in England I'd say.

Class2ldn · 27 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
I'll go anywhere mate, as long as housing is affordable and there are nice areas to live in easily commutable from the depot. I'm slightly concerned that GWR have permanent adverts out for their SW depots. Makes me wonder why they can't fill the jobs.

They've had a pay deal going through which means even qualified drivers moving to them are on 90% of full wage for first year.
I'm desperate to get to gwr for family purposes but it's nearly a 16k drop for me.
Too much.

User995 · 28 Jan 2020

Plymouth always seems to have a qualified driver vacancies =)

scotraildriver · 28 Jan 2020

We have a vacancy at Oban if you want real change!

SlimJim1694 · 28 Jan 2020

scotraildriver said:
We have a vacancy at Oban if you want real change!

I like the idea of it but I think it's probably too cut off for me! Just looked and see its 3 hours from Glasgow. It's interesting to hear different views though. I want to get a shortlist together of places to put in for where I've got a realistic chance of getting in and then visiting the towns and getting a feel for them before taking it further. Theres another thread on here about Holyhead where a guy from there warns people off it. I don't want to go anywhere like that where I won't be welcome or people are going to get funny. I'm not saying Oban would be like that, but it's interesting to hear what that guy was saying about Holyhead and it made me think.

scotraildriver · 28 Jan 2020

They are a nice bunch at Oban. 8 drivers and 7 guards. It's a nice town to live in and a spectacular area but if you like buzz it's a long way to Glasgow or Edinburgh. However there have been several people relocated there from the Central belt who were unable to adjust to the lifestyle and went back to where they were before. Another guy moved from Wales to Mallaig and is very happy. Only 1 route and traction though so very repetitive, but the West Highland Line is hard to beat for an office window.

Economist · 28 Jan 2020

XC New Street was open again recently, would possibly suit a driver from London since it's a big city with lots of amenities but without the London house prices. Worth a try.

dctraindriver · 28 Jan 2020

scotraildriver said:
They are a nice bunch at Oban. 8 drivers and 7 guards. It's a nice town to live in and a spectacular area but if you like buzz it's a long way to Glasgow or Edinburgh. However there have been several people relocated there from the Central belt who were unable to adjust to the lifestyle and went back to where they were before. Another guy moved from Wales to Mallaig and is very happy. Only 1 route and traction though so very repetitive, but the West Highland Line is hard to beat for an office window.

You’ve obviously never experienced the delights of the Hounslow Loop......

GWR for me fingers crossed....

SlimJim1694 · 28 Jan 2020

Good shout.

Economist said:
XC New Street was open again recently, would possibly suit a driver from London since it's a big city with lots of amenities but without the London house prices. Worth a try.

I think Birmingham might be worth a look. 3 TOCs up there to look at, 4 if you count virgin at Wolverhampton.

SlimJim1694 · 28 Jan 2020

dctraindriver said:
You’ve obviously never experienced the delights of the Hounslow Loop......

GWR for me fingers crossed....

Yeah mate, I feel your Hounslow loop pain. Good luck.

387star · 28 Jan 2020

The South East isn't all that bad...

GWR Fratton has no AM starts before 5AM with no especially late finishes
Guarded limited stop mainline work with beautiful scenery. Plus everyone gets on very well. Cardiff and Brighton are the routes. Around Bath and Bradford is stunning

J3053B · 28 Jan 2020

SWR seeking qualified drivers in Yeovil.
Lovely place to live actually, house prices cheap. Good links to big cities, fantastic local scenery and they are desperate as it’s a new depot!

SlimJim1694 · 29 Jan 2020

387star said:
The South East isn't all that bad...

GWR Fratton has no AM starts before 5AM with no especially late finishes
Guarded limited stop mainline work with beautiful scenery. Plus everyone gets on very well. Cardiff and Brighton are the routes. Around Bath and Bradford is stunning

That sounds good. I wouldnt have classed Fratton as South East! But obviously it is!

J3053B said:
SWR seeking qualified drivers in Yeovil.
Lovely place to live actually, house prices cheap. Good links to big cities, fantastic local scenery and they are desperate as it’s a new depot!

I went to Yeovil once and thought it was pretty backward. Overheard some pretty ignorant conversations about black people there so I don't think that would be the town for me. I'm also very sceptical about GWR as they seem to be constantly advertising so are obviously having trouble getting and keeping drivers.

Class2ldn · 29 Jan 2020

Its swr at yeovil

Economist · 29 Jan 2020

Leeds is another multi-TOC place, Northern, TPE, LNER XC, plus I think there might be one or two others. Most of the big cities have options, I always think it's ideal to move somewhere like that since it's useful to have options if things don't work out.

SlimJim1694 · 29 Jan 2020

Class2ldn said:
Its swr at yeovil

So it is. Apologies. I know a SWR driver from Waterloo and he doesn't speak highly of them. I wouldn't not work for them if it was the right depot but I would rule out yeovil whoever the TOC is. Having read some of these replies and done a bit of research I think I need to look at places that aren't too cut off. I don't fancy being the new bloke at Royston Vasey depot lol!

Edit: Just worked out why I mixed GWR and SWR yeovil up. Its because they are both on the same first group careers page which is full of GWR vacancies in the west, so I made the mistake of lumping yeovil in with all those.

SlimJim1694 · 29 Jan 2020

Economist said:
Leeds is another multi-TOC place, Northern, TPE, LNER XC, plus I think there might be one or two others. Most of the big cities have options, I always think it's ideal to move somewhere like that since it's useful to have options if things don't work out.

This is good advice and this thread has helped me to see that I need to be looking at places a bit more "on the grid". Leeds as you say is a good one. I'm also wondering about places like Manchester, Preston, Birmingham and so on. From what I can gather places like Shrewsbury, Chester, Crewe, Derby and York have more than one company with depots there too. Ive got some links to fhe Manchester area anyway. My shortlist is starting to take shape.

sw1ller · 29 Jan 2020

Don’t know how far you’re looking to move, but if money isn’t an issue, TFW have good terms and conditions, some decent routes at some depots too. As long as you keep away from the valleys of course.

Economist · 29 Jan 2020

It's all about finding where's "yep" and where's "yarp", you don't want to walk into the messroom on the first day to be met with a cry of "well, yurrr not yokel 'ere are ye lad!!!".

I suppose at bigger depots it's easier to start out as the quiet one and gradually get the feel of the place. As for where an area is like to live, there may be quite a few options, e.g. Crewe is going to be reachable from the leafy towns of North Cheshire, "the Surrey of the North".

Class2ldn · 29 Jan 2020

I'd like to move up to skipton and the settle and Carlisle line. Stunning.

43066 · 29 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
Just wondering what the best depots would be if looking to relocate away from the south east? I'm not bothered about money but quite fancy decent routes rather than stop-start metro work which I mostly do now. I've got a couple of door related incidents on my file but no spads or TPWS. Been driving nearly ten years. I wouldn't expect to get on with virgin or any of those type of firms but wondering who might entertain me and where might be good depots to look at and places to live. No kids, just me and partner. Am sick to death of my awful current company and London house prices and want a change of scene. Looking to draw up a shortlist of places to look at. Thanks in advance.

Some good suggestions given by other posters above.

Assuming you haven’t already used up your (one?) allowable move at SE, how about bidding for a move down to Faversham (the classic depot).

I’d probably avoid SE High Speed - all is clearly not well there because they are having to advertise for externals (as per the recent thread on the subject).

TPE and X country (depending on depot) are both good potential moves to relocate away from the South East, and offering good quality (guarded) work.

Incidents are what they are but I guess a couple of minor-ish ones over a ten year driving career looks a lot better than someone who has had multiple things happen in their first couple of years with a key.

ComUtoR said:
I feel your pain tbh. I haven't got itchy feet for another TOC but I have been re-assessing my future for a few months now. Metro is hard going and staring into the future its not a bright and shiny one. With the paydeal on the table and most likely pretty grim once again, I too feel the need for a change.

I'm on the outskirts of London and the house prices are only going in one direction. If I was to move, I would need to push the coast (from around Ashford downwards) or head at least into the Midlands for a decent return and an option for somewhere to live.

Ashford itself isn’t great, but it has some nice towns and villages surrounding it (albeit still expensive compared to other parts of the U.K.).

Faversham could be a good option for you, also?

notadriver · 29 Jan 2020

43066 said:
Some good suggestions given by other posters above.

Assuming you haven’t already used up your (one?) allowable move at SE, how about bidding for a move down to Faversham (the classic depot).

I’d probably avoid SE High Speed - all is clearly not well there because they are having to advertise for externals (as per the recent thread on the subject).

TPE and X country (depending on depot) are both good potential moves to relocate away from the South East, and offering good quality (guarded) work.

Incidents are what they are but I guess a couple of minor-ish ones over a ten year driving career looks a lot better than someone who has had multiple things happen in their first couple of years with a key.

Ashford itself isn’t great, but it has some nice towns and villages surrounding it (albeit still expensive compared to other parts of the U.K.).

Faversham could be a good option for you, also?

I don’t know why so many Southeastern drivers have a thing against high speed. I’m assuming 43066 you’re an ex SET driver yourself. Faversham’s main line work isn’t the best either.

ComUtoR · 29 Jan 2020

43066 said:
Faversham could be a good option for you, also?

I was searching house prices in Ashford a few months ago as 'opportunity knocked'. I looked at Ashford many years ago and could have made a few quid by now and there is still plenty of decent prices. However; I'm kinda stuck for a bit as I got kids going through secondary school.

notadriver said:
I don’t know why so many Southeastern drivers have a thing against high speed.

Probably because High Speed is boring as sin and doesn't have the best of reputations, as well as other more obvious reasons. Mainline isn't the be all and end all of train driving. Many Drivers I know prefer to have more routes, not less. Many Drivers don't see the job as outsiders do. People are comfortable where they are and if your already 'heading towards Eastbourne....' You may have moved once already.

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Suggestions for qualified driver relocating

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