A career as a signaller

[tommyb2687]

You will be paid a grade below whilst at signalling school and until you pass out. I.e if you are going to a grade 3 box you will get paid grade 2 at school and until you pass out in the box

cheers

 

[Rigchick]

Starting 1st Feb, off to IST in Manchester on 8th Feb. Anyone else on here joining me?

 

[Pancakes84]

Starting 1st Feb, off to IST in Manchester on 8th Feb. Anyone else on here joining me?

I’m starting on 1st also, but off to Derby for IST. Have you had any plans confirmed yet? I’m thinking the week in the box from the 1st may get cancelled and it’ll be straight to IST on the 8th but haven’t heard yet.
All the best with your training

 

[AliP]

I’m starting on 1st also, but off to Derby for IST. Have you had any plans confirmed yet? I’m thinking the week in the box from the 1st may get cancelled and it’ll be straight to IST on the 8th but haven’t heard yet.
All the best with your training

I'm also starting the 1st, but off to Glasgow.

 

[Rigchick]

I’m starting on 1st also, but off to Derby for IST. Have you had any plans confirmed yet? I’m thinking the week in the box from the 1st may get cancelled and it’ll be straight to IST on the 8th but haven’t heard yet.
All the best with your training

Thanks Pancakes, I’ve been told to report to my LOM on the 1st to get books, paperwork, logins and stuff. Don’t know how the rest of the week will go as my SB is single manned. Just wait and see. Good luck to you too. Can’t wait to get started!

 

[Chriss_munro]

Hi Chris,
i am app;hung for a job as a signaller at Tweedmouth. Any help appreciate, change of career too. Could you send me any tips for the application and questions? Got rejected a few times and it’s quite depressing, feel I have the right experience and skills so tips would be appreciated.

I’ve dropped you an email!

Could anyone help? Whats the average take home salary for a grade 5 signaller doing overtime here and there? Got a remortgage coming up soon so would kind of like a rough idea of my wage in my new role compared to now in order to decide whether to remortgage this house or get something cheaper! (Sorry about the personal question!)

 

[Qball]

I’ve dropped you an email!

Could anyone help? Whats the average take home salary for a grade 5 signaller doing overtime here and there? Got a remortgage coming up soon so would kind of like a rough idea of my wage in my new role compared to now in order to decide whether to remortgage this house or get something cheaper! (Sorry about the personal question!)

I would say £48kish with Sundays and overtime.

 

[KendalR]

Diffic

I’ve dropped you an email!

Could anyone help? Whats the average take home salary for a grade 5 signaller doing overtime here and there? Got a remortgage coming up soon so would kind of like a rough idea of my wage in my new role compared to now in order to decide whether to remortgage this house or get something cheaper! (Sorry about the personal question!)

Difficult to answer as it can depend on a lot of factors such as whether you work 12 hour shifts, nights and Sundays etc.

The reason all that matters is because Sunday's can be lucrative at 150%, 12 hour shifts give you a) more money for a rest day worked and b) more opportunity in the working week to work your rest days and finally nights due to the night premium.

If you include Sundays, nights and 2 overtime days a month providing you're on a 12 hour roster you're looking at around £55k

Although my biggest piece of advice is... with any serious financial considerations you make, try to delay them where you can until you have passed out signalling school, the box you are working in and have settled in after 6 months of being on your own.

 

[Chriss_munro]

I would say £48kish with Sundays and overtime.

Diffic

Difficult to answer as it can depend on a lot of factors such as whether you work 12 hour shifts, nights and Sundays etc.

The reason all that matters is because Sunday's can be lucrative at 150%, 12 hour shifts give you a) more money for a rest day worked and b) more opportunity in the working week to work your rest days and finally nights due to the night premium.

If you include Sundays, nights and 2 overtime days a month providing you're on a 12 hour roster you're looking at around £55k

Although my biggest piece of advice is... with any serious financial considerations you make, try to delay them where you can until you have passed out signalling school, the box you are working in and have settled in after 6 months of being on your own.

Thanks guys i really appreciate it! Is that before tax I’m guessing?

 

[Saracen_83]

55k ish before tax with sundays and reasonable amount of OT

to help

38k basic
Sunday’s will add about 8k
Night allowance about 1200ish

so with no OT about 45-46k (not including inner/outer allowance et )

If on 12 he roster, each RDW is is £316 so add another 10k to get that figure to 55k you would need to do about 30 odd days a year overtime....

All figures are rough, but gives you an idea.

 

[Sunset route]

I’ve dropped you an email!

Could anyone help? Whats the average take home salary for a grade 5 signaller doing overtime here and there? Got a remortgage coming up soon so would kind of like a rough idea of my wage in my new role compared to now in order to decide whether to remortgage this house or get something cheaper! (Sorry about the personal question!)

If there are no gaps in your roster ie all positions filled, then apart from rostered Sunday’s there will be little or no overtime, so if you need the overtime already then pray for some vacancies at your new location.

 

[Jomesy214eva]

Hey everyone, so, just want to give a quick update on how things are even after 2nd week of training, even though in lockdown IST is still happening (whether that affects those yet to start I don’t know) our course has been told if one of us gets Covid class will be suspended for 2 weeks, yet another class had 6 people and is down to 3 because of Covid and they’re pressing forward. On AB courses, a digital simulator has been introduced which we are guinea pigs for atm, but it helps massively. May not be perfect yet, but being able to practise at the hotel and not just in the classroom is invaluable. Our trainer is brilliant. I only had 1 week in box before IST and it was enough to give me a good base, but we have someone with no box time and he’s at the same level. You are sent a key worker letter so if you are stopped or challenged you can show it, providing you are travelling for work reasons (I.e, to and from training centre/hotel). We have a course 4 weeks ahead of us on TCB but everyone is in the same boat, have struggled at some point and give words of encouragement. Things will click. Just work hard both in and out of the classroom

 

[Pancakes84]

Hey everyone, so, just want to give a quick update on how things are even after 2nd week of training, even though in lockdown IST is still happening (whether that affects those yet to start I don’t know) our course has been told if one of us gets Covid class will be suspended for 2 weeks, yet another class had 6 people and is down to 3 because of Covid and they’re pressing forward. On AB courses, a digital simulator has been introduced which we are guinea pigs for atm, but it helps massively. May not be perfect yet, but being able to practise at the hotel and not just in the classroom is invaluable. Our trainer is brilliant. I only had 1 week in box before IST and it was enough to give me a good base, but we have someone with no box time and he’s at the same level. You are sent a key worker letter so if you are stopped or challenged you can show it, providing you are travelling for work reasons (I.e, to and from training centre/hotel). We have a course 4 weeks ahead of us on TCB but everyone is in the same boat, have struggled at some point and give words of encouragement. Things will click. Just work hard both in and out of the classroom

Thanks for this update
Really helpful and good to know they’re still trying to press on with it all. Is the hotel still able to serve you food? Really hoping ours still goes ahead in February

 

[ffesti]

off to IST in Manchester on 8th Feb.

Seems unlikely to me that you’ll be in Manchester from 8th Feb, unless you’re in a different venue. I’ve just finished week 2 in Manchester, finishing 19th March. There’s only one training room in the venue we’re using but I don’t know if there’s another centre opened in Manchester?

 

[Jomesy214eva]

Thanks for this update
Really helpful and good to know they’re still trying to press on with it all. Is the hotel still able to serve you food? Really hoping ours still goes ahead in February

Yeah so the hotel does room service, normally it’s £5 tray charge but because room service is forced it’s free. I don’t know where you will do your course, but I’m in Bristol and breakfast is a buffet that you go down, collect and take away to your room, lunch at the training centre, and room service for evening meal

 

[Qball]

Yeah so the hotel does room service, normally it’s £5 tray charge but because room service is forced it’s free. I don’t know where you will do your course, but I’m in Bristol and breakfast is a buffet that you go down, collect and take away to your room, lunch at the training centre, and room service for evening meal

You can order out just speak to your Lom first. You'll have to put expenses in on e-business.

 

[Pancakes84]

Yeah so the hotel does room service, normally it’s £5 tray charge but because room service is forced it’s free. I don’t know where you will do your course, but I’m in Bristol and breakfast is a buffet that you go down, collect and take away to your room, lunch at the training centre, and room service for evening meal

You can order out just speak to your Lom first. You'll have to put expenses in on e-business.

thanks very much. I’m going to Derby so imagine it’s a similar set up. Should hopefully hear from my LOM soon

 

[Rigchick]

Seems unlikely to me that you’ll be in Manchester from 8th Feb, unless you’re in a different venue. I’ve just finished week 2 in Manchester, finishing 19th March. There’s only one training room in the venue we’re using but I don’t know if there’s another centre opened in Manchester?

Thanks for the info. My LOM gave me the info but no specifics as yet. I’m aware that there have been numerous temp training schools set up during this so maybe there is another one. TBH I don’t mind where I go, I just want to get started. Just out of curiosity, how is the hotel and what’s the meal situation like?

 

[ffesti]

Thanks for the info. My LOM gave me the info but no specifics as yet. I’m aware that there have been numerous temp training schools set up during this so maybe there is another one. TBH I don’t mind where I go, I just want to get started. Just out of curiosity, how is the hotel and what’s the meal situation like?

We’re staying in a Holiday Inn, which is average. It’s not bad but nothing special.
Breakfast is ordered the night before using a little ticket you leave on the door. You can request any time between about 0600 and 1000 I think. Lunch is provided at the centre. Tea is room service of their 24hr menu, just ring reception whenever. You can specify a time, or just have it as soon as it’s ready.

Keep an eye out for your joining instructions, they’ll tell you everything you need to know

 

[desrudy]

I have just seen on the internal list a Grad 3 role at Ashford IECC . It's a 18 month fixed term contract .
Does anyone have information about this role or the workstation .
If i am not mistaken Asford IECC only has Grade 8 Signallers .

 

[nom de guerre]

I have just seen on the internal list a Grad 3 role at Ashford IECC . It's a 18 month fixed term contract .
Does anyone have information about this role or the workstation .
If i am not mistaken Asford IECC only has Grade 8 Signallers .

It has one Grade 3 workstation - Workstation 3 - which controls Ashford to Rye.

It's not a busy gig - try a Real Time Trains search for a better idea - so I believe the signaller on W/S 3 also has some admin responsibilities, e.g. printing off forms for the G8 workstations (not sure if this still happens, or how official an arrangement it was/is).

IIRC a 12 hour roster, as per the rest of Ashford IECC.

 

[Chriss_munro]

Hey everyone, so, just want to give a quick update on how things are even after 2nd week of training, even though in lockdown IST is still happening (whether that affects those yet to start I don’t know) our course has been told if one of us gets Covid class will be suspended for 2 weeks, yet another class had 6 people and is down to 3 because of Covid and they’re pressing forward. On AB courses, a digital simulator has been introduced which we are guinea pigs for atm, but it helps massively. May not be perfect yet, but being able to practise at the hotel and not just in the classroom is invaluable. Our trainer is brilliant. I only had 1 week in box before IST and it was enough to give me a good base, but we have someone with no box time and he’s at the same level. You are sent a key worker letter so if you are stopped or challenged you can show it, providing you are travelling for work reasons (I.e, to and from training centre/hotel). We have a course 4 weeks ahead of us on TCB but everyone is in the same boat, have struggled at some point and give words of encouragement. Things will click. Just work hard both in and out of the classroom

How long is the course? Im due to go to York on the 22nd Feb!

 

[ChrisRS]

How long is the course? Im due to go to York on the 22nd Feb!

10 weeks with an 11th week for the final observation.

 

[Jomesy214eva]

10 weeks with an 11th week for the final observation.

Yeah so AB course is 11 weeks altogether and those doing TCB conversion it’s an extra week at the end

 

[ArkUTD]

Morning all, i was wondering if anyone can give me information on what a Signaller relief job is? As i think i've gotten through the first test and who knows get taken to a interview so want as much info as possible going forward. I'm a workaholic type of person so if this keeps me very busy i'll be super happy haha

 

[danners430]

Morning all, i was wondering if anyone can give me information on what a Signaller relief job is? As i think i've gotten through the first test and who knows get taken to a interview so want as much info as possible going forward. I'm a workaholic type of person so if this keeps me very busy i'll be super happy haha

A relief signaller is a fully qualified signaller, but instead of being "resident" on a panel / in a box, you are passed out for multiple panels/boxes, and are rostered to cover otherwise vacant shifts that the resident staff can't cover. This includes when signallers are on rest days, on holiday or off sick. If you're in a multi-manned location, like an IECC or ROC then you often also cover for PNBs (Personal Needs Breaks), or allow signallers to have breaks.

Relief signallers get a flexibility premium on top of their basic salary (grade salary + FP percentage) - that's because you usually don't know what shifts you're working until the week before, and in the case of single-manned boxes usually have to travel longer distances between boxes. (multi-manned locations the FP is usually lower)

 

[tommyb2687]

just wondering if anybody who applied for tweedmouth has heard anything regarding interviews etc i passed the tests couple of weeks ago then its all went quiet cheers

 

[danners430]

just wondering if anybody who applied for tweedmouth has heard anything regarding interviews etc i passed the tests couple of weeks ago then its all went quiet cheers

The applications only closed last Monday - allowing time for the applicants who might have applied right at the end of the window to do their tests, the interviews are probably coming

 

[ArkUTD]

A relief signaller is a fully qualified signaller, but instead of being "resident" on a panel / in a box, you are passed out for multiple panels/boxes, and are rostered to cover otherwise vacant shifts that the resident staff can't cover. This includes when signallers are on rest days, on holiday or off sick. If you're in a multi-manned location, like an IECC or ROC then you often also cover for PNBs (Personal Needs Breaks), or allow signallers to have breaks.

Relief signallers get a flexibility premium on top of their basic salary (grade salary + FP percentage) - that's because you usually don't know what shifts you're working until the week before, and in the case of single-manned boxes usually have to travel longer distances between boxes. (multi-manned locations the FP is usually lower)

This sounds right up my ally, keeping me busy and always up for new challenges, but im sure it would be hard to give this job to someone off the street.

The role is at Rugby Rail Op's Center, i take it will be like the multi-manned location you spoke of.

 

[danners430]

This sounds right up my ally, keeping me busy and always up for new challenges, but im sure it would be hard to give this job to someone off the street.

The role is at Rugby Rail Op's Center, i take it will be like the multi-manned location you spoke of.

It usually lists the Flexibility Premium in the job description - as a general rule, 4-8% FP means you'll be in a single location, just covering multiple workstations, and anything above that you'll be working multiple locations.