Dazza
Member
Very valuable advice Thorpelad, thanks for posting & good luck in your new career.
Daz
Daz
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A career as a train driver
- Thread starter Thornaby
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If that is a serious question then no needles are involved-its a urine test and some places will also do a breathalyser (others do the alcohol test through urine to).
As for the second part-are you going to lay off the beers a few weeks before you ever go to work?! After all you can be alcohol tested at any time when at work with no warning or reason whatsoever.
If you are actually being serious then ill answer the question but the test is done at the medical which you will be given a date for if you pass the interview. Definately lay off the drink the day before and don't do it in for a couple of days before.
As far as I'm concerned I don't have anything to drink 12 hours prior to starting work. That said I'm certainly not 't-total' and there isn't any harm in having a drink of an evening providing you have those 12 hours and don't have so much that it will be left in your system.
But I'm not sure that was actually a serious post!
Thanks for answering, I am been serious, not a massive fan of needles thats all. Thanks for the advice, I don't drink in the week as Im a delivery driver but do have a few beers over the weekend, just wanted to know what the score was with it.
Thank you
Thank you
Ok, well 28mg is the alcohol limit for the railway. As I said, just don't drink the day before.
Dieseldriver
Member
- Joined
- 9 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 974
Mate, the one day course DBS offer is the psychometric assessment you sit to get the job as a trainee driver. You don't become a train driver in one day, more like 12 months...
You won't be a qualified driver if you do the DBS assessments! It takes over a year to train as a driver, not a day!
If you do the DBS course (which I have always advised against) then all it means is that if a trainee job comes up within the 2 years they are valid for then you may not have to re take the tests. It definately dosnt garuntee you a job and certainly dosnt make you a qualified driver!
Dieseldriver
Member
- Joined
- 9 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 974
Just one point, no offence intended. I can't believe there are people out there looking at applying for driving jobs who genuinely believe it takes a day to become a train driver?? 
Again, thanks for your help.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
No no, Im aware it doesn't take a day to become a driver lol but I thought it might allow me to apply for the positions and maybe then recieve the rest of the training. Sorry, I should have worded my question a little better. Im not one of these people who think the job is 'push lever forward,pull lever back'
Sorry, slightly embarrassed
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
No no, Im aware it doesn't take a day to become a driver lol but I thought it might allow me to apply for the positions and maybe then recieve the rest of the training. Sorry, I should have worded my question a little better. Im not one of these people who think the job is 'push lever forward,pull lever back'
Sorry, slightly embarrassed
Dieseldriver
Member
- Joined
- 9 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 974
Fair enough if it was a misunderstanding mate. 
The qualified vacancies are for guys who have at least 2 years 'productive' driving (usually). Any vacancies you apply for as a 'newbie' will be trainee ones. Best of luck with your search anyway! 
The qualified vacancies are for guys who have at least 2 years 'productive' driving (usually). Any vacancies you apply for as a 'newbie' will be trainee ones. Best of luck with your search anyway! I was told it was 13mg or maybe 21mg? Either way anyone drinking alcohol 12 hours perior to booking on is a fool. As for the medical there are a few things that can setermine you results apart from drugs and alcohol of course. Don't have coffee or ciggys a few hours before as this will raise your blood pressure and if you have taken any drugs (legal) even off the shelf paracetomol tell the medical examiner.
As far as I know 13mg is the average that your body naturally produces (hence the limit isn't 0) and 21mg is for pilots. To be honest I don't think there is any difference between 21 and 28- and at a guess if you were above 20mg they would want to investigate. I can't see then taking the attitude 'you got 27 so are just in'!
I'm told that the reason they have it so high is to allow for 'accidental' alcohol intake-eg without realising what you are doing eating a bit of brandy soaked Xmas cake or the old favourite that someone tried when they failed a number of years back 'I didn't realise my wife had cooked the chicken I had for lunch in white wine sauce!' (He was sacked).
Yep - a friend who used to be high up in forensics said that 24 hours clear prior to the test should be sufficient. Don't quote me on that though... depends if it was just a couple of pints or a couple of bottles of whisky!
During our training we were told you should allow 1 hour for the alcohol to be ingested, then an hour per unit for men and 1 and a half for women for it to pass through. That said, some will take longer, some will take less. (Many people are under the misapprehension that a pint of beer = 2 units. It's often closer to 3)
For the sake of a great career it just isn't worth the risk...
During our training we were told you should allow 1 hour for the alcohol to be ingested, then an hour per unit for men and 1 and a half for women for it to pass through. That said, some will take longer, some will take less. (Many people are under the misapprehension that a pint of beer = 2 units. It's often closer to 3)
For the sake of a great career it just isn't worth the risk...
evoluzione
Member
Just one point, no offence intended. I can't believe there are people out there looking at applying for driving jobs who genuinely believe it takes a day to become a train driver??
Oh one day??? Why did no one tell me about the special one day driver course?
Would have saved me freezing my nuts of at Newton Heath in the snow all last week while investigating what goes on under a 142's sole bar
Beveridges
Established Member
Nothing wrong with that
Just one point, no offence intended. I can't believe there are people out there looking at applying for driving jobs who genuinely believe it takes a day to become a train driver??
Oh one day??? Why did no one tell me about the special one day driver course?
Would have saved me freezing my nuts of at Newton Heath in the snow all last week while investigating what goes on under a 142's sole bar
Me too, would of saved looking underneath a class 315 and 317 for the last 3 weeks and learning about a Bucholz Device, Qualitrol and conservator lol
A quick question on fitness levels for becoming a driver, if I may?
I've got perfect vision and my hearing is good, but I'm a little overweight. I cycle and walk a lot so mobility isn't an issue, but I read somewhere they BMI cut-off point for a new driver is 28, and I think mine's something like 31.
I consider myself to be perfectly healthy, strong and able, but is a BMI of 31 too high to pass the medical?
I've got perfect vision and my hearing is good, but I'm a little overweight. I cycle and walk a lot so mobility isn't an issue, but I read somewhere they BMI cut-off point for a new driver is 28, and I think mine's something like 31.
I consider myself to be perfectly healthy, strong and able, but is a BMI of 31 too high to pass the medical?
If your weight isn't affecting any other part of your health then you will be fine. They will be most concerned with blood pressure if you are overweight as that us one if the biggest causes of drivers being removed from driving duties.
They can't really discriminate on weight grounds-as long as your blood pressure and heart are ok and as long as you are fit enough to climb in and out if a cab from floor level and walk 1mile and a quarter on ballast then you will be fine.
bmi of 33 is the cut off so try not to put any weight on, it is in fact for the ergonomics of the cab.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
It isn't discrimination the bmi is all about cab ergonomics and not the ability to walk 1 1/4 miles on ballast. So therefore it is a safety issue and not a discrinative one!
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Considering there are loads of drivers out there way over a BMI of 33 I beg to differ! It's quite a sight watching some squeeze into a cab. The overweight drivers I know have just been told at Medicals that they are ok if blood pressure and fitness is ok-hence the 1.26miles on ballast.
It may be different for new starters though.
Totally different - once you have the job there isn't a lot they can do as the unions would rip them apart however if they could prove that a driver is in breach of H & S due to their size then there would be fireworks.
Jim train fan
Member
- Joined
- 11 Feb 2013
- Messages
- 17
Thanks for the info all
Hi all,
I've just today been offered a place on a training course for a Trainee Driver in Leeds. I just want to say thanks to everyone on this forum, it has been such a benefit in just giving me a slight heads up in what to expect, rather than going in blind.
So, I thought I would talk you through my application experience, to hopefully help anyone starting out.
So I'm not an enthusiast, I know basically zero about trains, it is not something I've wanted to do for a long time. The job popped up on a random jobsite and I thought 'wow, I bet that would be interesting'. I was completely fed up with my current job.
I put my application in, although I took my time, I didn't really look into it properly and didn't go back and read through it again, so a little lucky in that respect. Then I recieved the online test, this was where I decided to google to see if I could get some information on the test, that's when I discovered this forum. And this is when I read everyone's stories and experiences and realised this job is something people can spend years trying to get and I realised my chances were slim to none, especially with zero knowledge and experience. But I thought, what the hell, can't hurt to go for it.
I was shocked and delighted when I got selected for the managers interview, I felt I had performed very well in this interview, and the fact I was informed I'd made it through one day later, when there were still a weeks worth of interviews to go must be a good sign.
For the assessment day I did the practice tests provided, although I was very poor at the mechanical tests. I used the group bourdon practice test on here, but I somehow missed the reactions test, which I think would have been very useful, if nothing else, then to familiarise myself with the keyboard layout. On the day I was feeling pretty unwell and not very confident, however I was one of only 3 that made it through to the final interview, somehow passing the mechanical test quite comfortably. I found out a week later I had passed all the assessments and that I would find out more in the next 3 weeks.
8 and a half weeks later I recieved my job offer, 2 days before the start date! Luckily my employers were very helpful and happy that I had found something like this. I'd been in touch with HR along the way and they informed me that the course had been pushed back a month, but still, I've spent pretty much every day for over 2 months staring at my phone and email waiting for something.
And that was that. But I really just wanted to emphasise to anyone that may be at the stage I was a few months ago, coming onto here and thinking that they have no chance. If you are good enough, you are good enough. It doesn't matter if you've wanted to be a driver since you were 5 or if you never thought of it until you were 30. All that matters is your performance, and there is some great information on here to help you along the way!
Cheers guys, can't wait for Monday!
I've just today been offered a place on a training course for a Trainee Driver in Leeds. I just want to say thanks to everyone on this forum, it has been such a benefit in just giving me a slight heads up in what to expect, rather than going in blind.
So, I thought I would talk you through my application experience, to hopefully help anyone starting out.
So I'm not an enthusiast, I know basically zero about trains, it is not something I've wanted to do for a long time. The job popped up on a random jobsite and I thought 'wow, I bet that would be interesting'. I was completely fed up with my current job.
I put my application in, although I took my time, I didn't really look into it properly and didn't go back and read through it again, so a little lucky in that respect. Then I recieved the online test, this was where I decided to google to see if I could get some information on the test, that's when I discovered this forum. And this is when I read everyone's stories and experiences and realised this job is something people can spend years trying to get and I realised my chances were slim to none, especially with zero knowledge and experience. But I thought, what the hell, can't hurt to go for it.
I was shocked and delighted when I got selected for the managers interview, I felt I had performed very well in this interview, and the fact I was informed I'd made it through one day later, when there were still a weeks worth of interviews to go must be a good sign.
For the assessment day I did the practice tests provided, although I was very poor at the mechanical tests. I used the group bourdon practice test on here, but I somehow missed the reactions test, which I think would have been very useful, if nothing else, then to familiarise myself with the keyboard layout. On the day I was feeling pretty unwell and not very confident, however I was one of only 3 that made it through to the final interview, somehow passing the mechanical test quite comfortably. I found out a week later I had passed all the assessments and that I would find out more in the next 3 weeks.
8 and a half weeks later I recieved my job offer, 2 days before the start date! Luckily my employers were very helpful and happy that I had found something like this. I'd been in touch with HR along the way and they informed me that the course had been pushed back a month, but still, I've spent pretty much every day for over 2 months staring at my phone and email waiting for something.
And that was that. But I really just wanted to emphasise to anyone that may be at the stage I was a few months ago, coming onto here and thinking that they have no chance. If you are good enough, you are good enough. It doesn't matter if you've wanted to be a driver since you were 5 or if you never thought of it until you were 30. All that matters is your performance, and there is some great information on here to help you along the way!
Cheers guys, can't wait for Monday!
Dazza
Member
Well done mate. Which TOC did you apply for, was it Northern?
Daz
Daz