Regan
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Colas rail advertising for Apprentice Freight train Drivers full description on their website.
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Apprentice Freight Drivers.
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CapriSpeed
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On the vacancy, it says South East; Anglia and the East Midlands.
Regan
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I currently work for Colas on the tamper side which I am hopefully leaving as far as I am aware they do a lot of weekends turns if I manage to bump into one of the drivers I'll try and give more information.
Yeah I did see that, not very clear on location of the vacancies though, but if that’s the location then I’ll pass.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Not being familiar with apprenticeships, when it says
does that mean for 12 months you don’t get paid at all?
does that mean for 12 months you don’t get paid at all?
I highly doubt it. But you’ll be paid significantly less than the final mainline wage obviously.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Thanks. It’s a bit annoying it doesn’t say where the depots are but I guess an application can’t hurt!
The ‘Driver Depots’ thread may give you more info...seems like a lot of home-based and mobile working with Colas. Not unusual for FOCs to work this way. Good luck!
Regan
Member
If the latest news coming from colas is true they are going to invest billions into our infrastructure.
How does a home based and mobile working train driver work?
I’m no expert on this and I’ve never worked for a FOC, but AFAIK it means rather than starting/finishing at a main depot everytime you work, you are expected to clock into and out of jobs in various locations within your region. One driver will drive to the meet point in a company van, sign on remotely and the previous driver will take the company van away with them. Could be a lot of lodging involved but I’d seek further info from someone who’s actually worked at Colas if I were you.
Ah okay I see thanks for that.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Well I've applied, I think I'm far too old for an apprenticeship really, and I put "Essex" under "Preferred location" where there may not even be any locations, but hey you have to feel you're at least trying to keep the dream alive right?
Heedfan pretty much sums it up - but worth pointing out is you have to give them 1hr each way (start/end of shift) in travelling time. In other words a 12 hour job 'could' and often does equate to 14 hours.
An 'apprentice' driver (trainee in English) will be on a starters salary which im unaware of the amount - probably circa £23000. This would increase as each level of training is reached and assessments passed.
As for when qualified - be prepared to spend long hours sat on locos in T3 possessions, and also increasingly as much time conducting on track plant such as tampers and rail grinders. Also worth remembering that they can and do send you from one end of the country to the other.
An 'apprentice' driver (trainee in English) will be on a starters salary which im unaware of the amount - probably circa £23000. This would increase as each level of training is reached and assessments passed.
As for when qualified - be prepared to spend long hours sat on locos in T3 possessions, and also increasingly as much time conducting on track plant such as tampers and rail grinders. Also worth remembering that they can and do send you from one end of the country to the other.
tiptoptaff
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I put Canton TMD (they have a fair few locos based there) as my preferred location. I know it's not in the list buried in the advert, but it can't hurt to try!!
martin2345uk
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Where’s the list?? I couldn’t find it!
tiptoptaff
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In the opening paragraph of the job advert it mentions a couple of places - I took advantage of it being a free-type box!!
martin2345uk
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tiptoptaff
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Oh do you mean ?
Thought maybe you meant something a little more specific
Yes - no I didn't mean anything else. I just typed in Cardiff Canton in the hope they'd consider it! :P
Colas dont operate depots for traincrew, they are home based. Ergo you book on/off at your home (or hotel) and travel to where you are needed. Drivers are based in geographical areas - Cardiff comes under South Wales/Bristol although it wouldnt stop them sending you to Inverness or Penzance if they wanted.
tiptoptaff
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Yeah I'm aware of the mobile thing, I just thought Canton would be a location they'd recognise off the bat
tiptoptaff
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Already have my psychometric passes in the bag so hoping that will help!!
No worries. If you progress and have any questions feel free to message me.
tiptoptaff
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Cheers mate. If they don't have an opening in the South Wales area I'm not gunna bother, but it's worth a try I suppose.
martin2345uk
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I just put "Essex (Anglia)" on mine but mentioned relocating in one of the questions, and also in the covering letter...
martin2345uk
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How does it work in terms of route knowledge with a company like this? If they can just call you up and expect you to go more or less anywhere?
No, you will learn routes, be assessed and sign for them as per every other company. Where Colas differ is they can and will send you anywhere if its 'site only' driving - or within an engineers possession. However, this gets exploited frequently, and you could end up taking a train absolutely miles within marker boards. Regardless of speed, I would say a driver would require more than a crappy map (if they are lucky enough to get one) for that kind of distance. One driver had to work a train Newbury to Southcote Jn with no toute knowledge a few years ago.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Haha it sounds rather interesting! I still find it odd they weren’t more specific with regards to acceptable locations in the advert - surely it’s in their interest to get applications from people who live in the right sort of areas?
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