• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Arriva Trains Wales- Trainee drivers

Status
Not open for further replies.

NX

Member
Joined
6 Jan 2014
Messages
320
Hold out for Carmthern mate! Cardiff will be at least five years of Valleys work all day every day!

NX
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

craigybagel

Established Member
Joined
25 Oct 2012
Messages
5,061
Although you could ask is a job on the valleys better than a place in the talent pool? Jobs at Carmarthen don't come up very often (usually they're filled by transfers), and between the two sides of Cardiff depot there's 3-4 times as many drivers as Carmarthen.

Work at Carmarthen is definitely more appealing though!
 

headshot119

Established Member
Joined
31 Dec 2010
Messages
2,052
Location
Dubai
Although you could ask is a job on the valleys better than a place in the talent pool? Jobs at Carmarthen don't come up very often (usually they're filled by transfers), and between the two sides of Cardiff depot there's 3-4 times as many drivers as Carmarthen.

Work at Carmarthen is definitely more appealing though!

How often do jobs at Cardiff (mainline) come up, and how long do you have to do before they'll consider you for a transfer? (To any depot doesn't have to be Cardiff Mainline if there's any difference)
 

craigybagel

Established Member
Joined
25 Oct 2012
Messages
5,061
It's meant to be 2 years before you can apply for a transfer between depots but some in the north have been known to move a lot sooner than that if there's a vacancy going and no one else wants it. I know down south guards have been able to make the jump from valleys to mainline within a couple of years but I I've heard anything from 5 to 10 years as a driver.

On the guards side the Valleys depot is bigger than the mainline, so I would assume the same is true for Drivers, so that does explain part of the wait. It's also worth mentioning that within the mainline depot there are numerous links for drivers; even if you did make the transfer, don't expect to be going to Milford Haven or Chester on Class 67s any time soon. You'd be spending a lot of time doing the VOG, Maesteg and Ebbw Vale lines which aren't much different from the Valleys really!

I suspect Cardiff is fairly unique on the railway in being a half way point between 1 depot and 2. They share management and booking on points, but are treated as two different depots for rostering purposes; other than shunts around Canton and Cardiff Central, they don't share any work. They also have slightly different T&Cs, for example Mainline is a 5 day week, Valleys are 4.

The only similar situation I can think of in Britain is XC for Senior Conductors vs TMs at Birmingham and Bristol, but even then the drivers at least do mixed work, and XC recruit directly for both sides whereas anyone starting in Cardiff for ATW is put straight on the valleys.
 
Last edited:

TDK

Established Member
Joined
19 Apr 2008
Messages
4,155
Location
Crewe
It's meant to be 2 years before you can apply for a transfer between depots but some in the north have been known to move a lot sooner than that if there's a vacancy going and no one else wants it. I know down south guards have been able to make the jump from valleys to mainline within a couple of years but I I've heard anything from 5 to 10 years as a driver.

On the guards side the Valleys depot is bigger than the mainline, so I would assume the same is true for Drivers, so that does explain part of the wait. It's also worth mentioning that within the mainline depot there are numerous links for drivers; even if you did make the transfer, don't expect to be going to Milford Haven or Chester on Class 67s any time soon. You'd be spending a lot of time doing the VOG, Maesteg and Ebbw Vale lines which aren't much different from the Valleys really!

I suspect Cardiff is fairly unique on the railway in being a half way point between 1 depot and 2. They share management and booking on points, but are treated as two different depots for rostering purposes; other than shunts around Canton and Cardiff Central, they don't share any work. They also have slightly different T&Cs, for example Mainline is a 5 day week, Valleys are 4.

The only similar situation I can think of in Britain is XC for Senior Conductors vs TMs at Birmingham and Bristol, but even then the drivers at least do mixed work, and XC recruit directly for both sides whereas anyone starting in Cardiff for ATW is put straight on the valleys.

There is a rule in place so that any new driver cannot transfer whilst PQ and that is usually 3 years normally. It is possible to have an immediate transfer before your training is completed as this will not affect the driver or the business if there are vacancies available, in the past it was common but I am sure now this new rule is adhered to.
 

Bluebird83

New Member
Joined
22 Jul 2015
Messages
4
How likely/unlikely is it that I'll get a call do you guys think? Some threads suggest probably not. Others suggest I'm in but just a matter of time. They're offering redundancies at work and not sure wether to take it and wait or just forget about it and move on! Nightmare!
 

craigybagel

Established Member
Joined
25 Oct 2012
Messages
5,061
I'd say its really hard for anyone outside of the HR department to say to be honest. It's very hard to predict when and where vacancies will come up. It might not do you any harm to ask the HR team yourself though? They're a nice group of people at ATW and if anyone's able to give you a straight answer it'll be them.
 

HSTfan!!!

Established Member
Joined
11 Jun 2005
Messages
1,967
I know a former colleague at ATW who passed as a driver and moved to mainline from the valleys within a year. I also know a conductor who did the same.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top