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Not 100% sure if that’s across the board but I don’t think the salary numbers differ much between depots

For trainee drivers, salary starts at £29,822 at the beginning of training. After 9 months, it increases to £42,879. One year after passing out as a qualified driver, it increases to £57,044

When I was sitting the tests for a second time, I sent an email to the company before the assessment day and they were able to advise which tests I had already met their standard on and which extra tests I needed to sit.

A colleague of mine started his driver training just after his 57th birthday. Don’t stress about your age mate, just keep your eyes on job websites and keep applying as vacancies appear. It can sometimes take years to land a driver job (as I found out myself) so prepare to be patient but it’ll...

Hello mate. The length of time that assessment scores are seen as valid for varies depending on the company in question and also the role. Best bet is to drop an email to [email protected], mention the names of the assessments taken and ask how long they are seen as valid for at Scotrail

The assessment centre (where you go to the OPC office in Watford) is definitely a two strikes and you’re out rule, and it’s the same across all TOC’s. However, whether the two strikes rule applies to the at home VSE and M7 is a bit of a grey area. I have been told by two different people at the...

Hello mate. In my past experience applying to TOC’s, you have to repeat any tests done online at home regardless of whether you passed or failed them in a previous application, including the VSE and M7. Also, I believe the 6 month rule applies at all stages of the application. So even if you...

Overcrowding definitely made the situation twice as bad as it may have otherwise been. The 09:04 train from New Street to Lime Street was also packed to the brim (it was meant to be an 8 carriage train but was downgraded to a 4 carriage train) and there was a medical emergency on board that one...

I was on the 16:06 LNWR train travelling back from Lime Street after watching the Liverpool v Watford match. The train stopped at Wolverhampton and picked up lots of fans that had been to Wolves v Aston Villa at Molineux (police were already having to arrest some of these fans on the platform at...

No worries mate. And yes it’s definitely a massive disappointment, I had the same myself a few years ago the first time I applied. Use any feedback you get from HR to your advantage. Also, if you can remember them, note down the questions you were asked in the interview so that you’re fully...

Hello mate. When applying for a trainee drivers role, you’ll only be placed into the talent pool if you pass all psychometric tests as well as the company interview (also known as Driver Manager Interview). Whilst that unfortunately means you won’t be in the talent pool this time, on the plus...

As others have said, asking to be put on a later course is always risky as there is usually only a set number of trainees on each course which is carefully planned, also taking into consideration specific depots, routes and traction training etc. Whilst I might not know your individual...

After I did my stage 1, I received an email 5 days later to say I had passed and invited me to stage 2 tests for the following week. It may take slightly longer for some though as I had previously passed most of the Stage 1 tests with another company so only had to do one test at Stage 1 this...

Having spent 6 years working in the NHS (albeit not as a doctor) I can 100% say that making the move to become a train driver was the best decision. Whilst the shifts can be quite extreme, they are definitely no worse than the hours you’d get in the NHS. And as a driver you shouldn’t have to...

Hello mate. In my experience it seems every company has their own policy regarding how long they believe tests to be valid for. The company I am with now say they are happy to accept any enhanced standard tests done within the last 5 years. But also I’ve applied to a company in the past who only...

I was changing ends at a station, and had not one, not two, but three passengers ask me about the trains station stops…whist stood under the station stops info board…whilst the station stops announcements were being made on the speakers ‍:rolleyes:

To be honest mate I think there’s a trainee driver somewhere out there from almost every single different industry. Of course there are many trainee drivers who started off in other train roles (conductor, guard, station staff, platform staff etc) however I come from an NHS background and am...

Overall DMI was pretty good, it was quite long but the interviewers were nice and friendly. A lot of the questions are similar to what you might face in the MMI. It was done online on Microsoft Teams. DMI was last week and they gave me the result two days after

Hello mate. In my DMI they asked about WMT, and I went into some detail about WMT and their services/staff numbers/stations etc. I didn’t mention Abellio and they seemed happy with my answer

Everyone above has provided some really good advice. A few more little tips I’ll add after failing my first MMI and then passing my second MMI: Be specific in your answers. So if you’re using a process you follow everyday at work, pick a day you did it and describe how you did it that day. I...