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Been trying to get a job in the rail industry for a year: is it worth it?

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43066

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T'was my quote that was quoteth.

Shift work is well known for its downsides. That is a reality that must be faced.

To be fair you were quite right to point that out. But, unlike the poster who quoted you, your contributions are well balanced and show an appreciation of the good sides of the job, along with the bad!
 
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Grannyjoans

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I didnt think drivers were allowed to work 7 days in a row - Safety reasons

At Arriva Rail North I'm forced to work up to 7 days in a row! Every 4 weeks there is 7 days in a row that I have to do and I hate it.
You can volunteer to work up to 13 days in a row.
As for the debate on whether it's a good or bad place to work - I'm undecided. There are days when it's awful, when the jobs are long, the stops are numerous, the traction is uncomfortable as hell and any breaks are spent in busy messrooms away from home depot full of people I don't know. On days like this I think it is impossible to not feel pissed off.
Then there are days when it is the complete opposite.
 
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ComUtoR

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We used to have a 6 day set of nights. The trade off was a long weekend off after. Many preferred the long week of nights as your body is up the creek but you adjust and the long weekend gives you enough time to recover. With the added benefit of a long weekend. Now we work a 4 day week, the night shift is split. You get two lines of nights in the link instead of one and there is no long weekend afterwards.

I can't remember which TOC but someone out there has a 4 day week but they roster you for 5 with a full week off every X number of weeks. Not sure how I feel about that but I understand the trade off.
 

Windymoors

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The above highlighted statement is so OTT I can’t work out whether you’re actually being serious, or simply trolling.

I don’t detect any “defensive fury” in the post you’ve quoted. The issue I have with your posts is that they paint an unrealistically negative picture, and purport to speak “for the vast majority”.

Quite the opposite! As a driver you do not speak for me, and your views are not reflective of the vast majority of people I have encountered in the grade.

Shift work has its downsides, and can be incredibly tough at times, but also has many positives. It’s telling that most people I’ve met in this industry, and indeed many contributors to this thread, have said wouldn’t go back to the kind of work they were doing before (and trust me when you’ve pulled all nighters in a corporate law sweatshop - and spent three days at work without sleeping during a closing - you start to see the value of a decently paid job with a 35 hour, 4 day week roster, albeit with some early starts and late finishes, and an absence of corporate BS).

The worst thing about this industry by far is the institutionalised bad apples in the messroom who drag everyone else down by moaning like hell about the downsides of the job (which nobody on here is denying), yet are happy enough to stick around for the pay, the time off, and the decent benefits.

If you really hated your job as much as you claimed, you’d simply leave! Or maybe you are one of those whose only doing it for the money?!

We are all doing it for the money- if it were unpaid- would you still be there?
There are few or no advantages to shift work- medical, lifestyle, social - none.
It's decently paid for blue-collar work.
I've never said I hated it- you're working up a fury- chill out.
Nobody opts to do shiftwork- OK- 0.067 % might do.
These are not unrealistically negative- and they are indisputable.
 

Taylor-j01

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At Arriva Rail North I'm forced to work up to 7 days in a row! Every 4 weeks there is 7 days in a row that I have to do and I hate it.
You can volunteer to work up to 13 days in a row.
As for the debate on whether it's a good or bad place to work - I'm undecided. There are days when it's awful, when the jobs are long, the stops are numerous, the traction is uncomfortable as hell and any breaks are spent in busy messrooms away from home depot full of people I don't know. On days like this I think it is impossible to not feel pissed off.
Then there are days when it is the complete opposite.
At Arriva Rail North I'm forced to work up to 7 days in a row! Every 4 weeks there is 7 days in a row that I have to do and I hate it.
You can volunteer to work up to 13 days in a row.
As for the debate on whether it's a good or bad place to work - I'm undecided. There are days when it's awful, when the jobs are long, the stops are numerous, the traction is uncomfortable as hell and any breaks are spent sat in busy messrooms away from depot full of people I don't know. On days like this I think it is impossible to not feel pissed off.
Then there are days when it is the complete opposite.

so northerns pay of 54k is based on 35 hours 4 9.5 shifts. So doing the 7 days row once a month must put yours hours way up a year 60/65
 

Grannyjoans

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There are few or no advantages to shift work- medical, lifestyle, social - none.
I really don't like shift work. Early shifts and night shifts are tough on sleep. I've had migranes on either. So I now do permenant late turns. I don't like lates but it's the only alternative. I'd rather do 9 to 5. Commuting is not an issue to me it is very a short train journey into the workplace. The only advantage I can see of the shifts is that on most weeks it means 3 days off, instead of the 2 which the 9-5 workers get. Getting weekdays off is good as well, some on office hours never get a weekday off.
 
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Grannyjoans

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so northerns pay of 54k is based on 35 hours 4 9.5 shifts. So doing the 7 days row once a month must put yours hours way up a year 60/65
The 7 in a row is caused by having to work an extra day and the shifts running from the back end of one week into the front end of the next. The extra day every month probably puts the current salary up to around £58 to £59K.
The salary is by far the best thing about this job, never complained about that. I'd much rather bin the all forced overtime and be on a 35 hour 4 day week. Any money earned by overtime is all in super tax anyway.
 
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Red1980

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The above highlighted statement is so OTT I can’t work out whether you’re actually being serious, or simply trolling.

I don’t detect any “defensive fury” in the post you’ve quoted. The issue I have with your posts is that they paint an unrealistically negative picture, and purport to speak “for the vast majority”.

Quite the opposite! As a driver you do not speak for me, and your views are not reflective of the vast majority of people I have encountered in the grade.

Shift work has its downsides, and can be incredibly tough at times, but also has many positives. It’s telling that most people I’ve met in this industry, and indeed many contributors to this thread, have said wouldn’t go back to the kind of work they were doing before (and trust me when you’ve pulled all nighters in a corporate law sweatshop - and spent three days at work without sleeping during a closing - you start to see the value of a decently paid job with a 35 hour, 4 day week roster, albeit with some early starts and late finishes, and an absence of corporate BS).

The worst thing about this industry by far is the institutionalised bad apples in the messroom who drag everyone else down by moaning like hell about the downsides of the job (which nobody on here is denying), yet are happy enough to stick around for the pay, the time off, and the decent benefits.

If you really hated your job as much as you claimed, you’d simply leave! Or maybe you are one of those whose only doing it for the money?!

Amen to this!!
 

Red1980

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We are all doing it for the money- if it were unpaid- would you still be there?
There are few or no advantages to shift work- medical, lifestyle, social - none.
It's decently paid for blue-collar work.
I've never said I hated it- you're working up a fury- chill out.
Nobody opts to do shiftwork- OK- 0.067 % might do.
These are not unrealistically negative- and they are indisputable.

Never said you hated it!? We don't need a weather forecast to tell us there's snow on the ground outside the living room window.

You know exactly what you meant when talking about money motivation let's not pretend you were referring to simply putting food on the table.

Hmmm let's see....Medical - far easier to attend any medical appointments when you can tell what shifts you're on in advance. People on permanent earlies,lates or nights (of which there are plenty) have a settled body clock.

Lifestyle - with my shifts I can shop in quieter times , go away for long weekends, attend appointments, find I'm using less AL due to rest days accrued, gym in quieter times.

Social - I get plenty of time off to do as I wish. Holidays. Nights out. Weekend breaks. The list goes on.

Not bad considering shift work is the apparent anti Christ.
 

43066

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The 7 in a row is caused by having to work an extra day and the shifts running from the back end of one week into the front end of the next. The extra day every month probably puts the current salary up to around £58 to £59K.
The salary is by far the best thing about this job, never complained about that. I'd much rather bin the all forced overtime and be on a 35 hour 4 day week. Any money earned by overtime is all in super tax anyway.

I don’t quite follow that. By forced overtime do you mean you have committed Sundays?

An average 35 hour four day week can certainly look very different according to local arrangements.

Where I am now six working days in a row comes up, but you get a five day weekend every three weeks and there’s a six day block of rest days every so often.

My previous place had no more than four consecutive days on, and never less than two consecutive days off. But this meant you’d never get more than four off and there was no guaranteed recurring five day weekend (obviously absent using annual leave etc.).

This arrangement also meant you’d spend more time “off shift” due to the way the shifts straddled the weeks, and you were at work “little and often”, rather than long runs of work and longer runs of rest days.

Swings and roundabouts. The arrangement where I am now means it’s easier to book a weekend away without using any annual leave, but also some single rest days.
 

Windymoors

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At Arriva Rail North I'm forced to work up to 7 days in a row! Every 4 weeks there is 7 days in a row that I have to do and I hate it.
You can volunteer to work up to 13 days in a row.
As for the debate on whether it's a good or bad place to work - I'm undecided. There are days when it's awful, when the jobs are long, the stops are numerous, the traction is uncomfortable as hell and any breaks are spent in busy messrooms away from home depot full of people I don't know. On days like this I think it is impossible to not feel pissed off.
Then there are days when it is the complete opposite.

There we go- as it really is.
 

Windymoors

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No defensive fury or unhappiness here....I go to work happily and am more than content. Ah there's that closed mind of yours again rearing it's ugly head..... because someone is in a happy decent place it's automatically weakness in your eyes.....what a top fella you must be to sit next to In a mess room......I don't know what I'd reach for first if you came strolling in.....the door handle or the noose.

I'd recommend the latter
 

Windymoors

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That's YOUR opinion and you've no evidence whatsoever to back up any of these ridiculous claims that you've shoehorned into your posts about the majority of the workforce either being miserable or money motivated.

Just so you know...... something isn't factual just because you think it may be, write it in a forum or say it out loud.

That's true- there is indeed no such thing as facts. There is opinion though- and I've just put the question to the whole mess room up here..... hmmm.... noone wants to do shifts..... surprise...
 

Windymoors

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I don’t quite follow that. By forced overtime do you mean you have committed Sundays?

An average 35 hour four day week can certainly look very different according to local arrangements.

Where I am now six working days in a row comes up, but you get a five day weekend every three weeks and there’s a six day block of rest days every so often.

My previous place had no more than four consecutive days on, and never less than two consecutive days off. But this meant you’d never get more than four off and there was no guaranteed recurring five day weekend (obviously absent using annual leave etc.).

This arrangement also meant you’d spend more time “off shift” due to the way the shifts straddled the weeks, and you were at work “little and often”, rather than long runs of work and longer runs of rest days.

Swings and roundabouts. The arrangement where I am now means it’s easier to book a weekend away without using any annual leave, but also some single rest days.

Can i just correct this- there is no such thing as a 'five day weekend' - that's just to make it sound good. Last time I knew, a weekend was Saturday and Sunday.
 

43066

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Can i just correct this- there is no such thing as a 'five day weekend' - that's just to make it sound good. Last time I knew, a weekend was Saturday and Sunday.

Can I just correct this - I get a guaranteed Friday - Tuesday off every three weeks. :D
 

scotraildriver

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Why is everyone feeding the Troll? He/she joined this forum 9 days ago and has posted 38 messages slating the job. If its that bad they would leave. Plenty of happy and contented people work in the railway, myself included. And I like shift work, it means my childcare costs are virtually nil.
 

Red1980

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That's true- there is indeed no such thing as facts. There is opinion though- and I've just put the question to the whole mess room up here..... hmmm.... noone wants to do shifts..... surprise...

What the mess room actually converse with you? Christ almighty that must be a laugh a minute up there.

At least we can all now see where you get your "statistics" from and the levels of accuracy within them.....sigh.
 

Windymoors

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Why is everyone feeding the Troll? He/she joined this forum 9 days ago and has posted 38 messages slating the job. If its that bad they would leave. Plenty of happy and contented people work in the railway, myself included. And I like shift work, it means my childcare costs are virtually nil.

So noone can post anything that is contrary to how you personally feel? what sort of attitude is that? I am merely discussing the reality for those who think its all a bundle of laughs and a big train set...
 

Red1980

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Why is everyone feeding the Troll? He/she joined this forum 9 days ago and has posted 38 messages slating the job. If its that bad they would leave. Plenty of happy and contented people work in the railway, myself included. And I like shift work, it means my childcare costs are virtually nil.

True but I've gotta say it'd be interesting to see given his levels of apparent honesty etc whether he'd care to divulge his/her TOC and depot just so we could do our own research and blow his statistics out of the water.
 

Red1980

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So noone can post anything that is contrary to how you personally feel? what sort of attitude is that? I am merely discussing the reality for those who think its all a bundle of laughs and a big train set...

What sort of attitude is that? Well you tell us as apparently anyone who has an opinion that differs from yours is apparently living in Eutopia!

No all you've done is quote YOUR reality! If you do anything grade wise remotely like me then your reality differs greatly to mine and by the sounds of it quite a few others.
 

43066

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Why is everyone feeding the Troll? He/she joined this forum 9 days ago and has posted 38 messages slating the job. If its that bad they would leave. Plenty of happy and contented people work in the railway, myself included. And I like shift work, it means my childcare costs are virtually nil.

You may well be right.

I would have thought that anyone genuinely working in the driving grade would have known what a recurring five day weekend is... And that it includes an actual weekend.
 

scotraildriver

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You may well be right.

I would have thought that anyone genuinely working in the driving grade would have known what a recurring five day weekend is... And that it includes an actual weekend.
Or has never worked outside the railway and has no concept of life in other jobs. Its rare in my experience to hear many complaints from people who joined from other professions.
 

Red1980

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I sincerely hope he's a troll as if that's a supposed colleague I'm genuinely worried!
 

ComUtoR

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Where I am now six working days in a row comes up, but you get a five day weekend every three weeks and there’s a six day block of rest days every so often.

My previous place had no more than four consecutive days on, and never less than two consecutive days off. But this meant you’d never get more than four off and there was no guaranteed recurring five day weekend (obviously absent using annual leave etc.).

Which do you prefer ?

I must admit 'little and often' feels like the perfect description for our shifts.
 

JLyons

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I think we should leave this windymoors guy to it, he’s either a troll or someone deeply unhappy and bitter in life.
 

Joliver

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We used to have a 6 day set of nights. The trade off was a long weekend off after. Many preferred the long week of nights as your body is up the creek but you adjust and the long weekend gives you enough time to recover. With the added benefit of a long weekend. Now we work a 4 day week, the night shift is split. You get two lines of nights in the link instead of one and there is no long weekend afterwards.

I can't remember which TOC but someone out there has a 4 day week but they roster you for 5 with a full week off every X number of weeks. Not sure how I feel about that but I understand the trade off.
There we go- as it really is.

Not how it is for every TOC though. Mine for example, is an average four day 34 hour week. Work 8 weeks on, then off for two weeks (rest days and four days A/L). Within that 10 week period I'm never rostered on for more than six consecutive shifts, unless I do RDW.
 
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