Chiltern Railway Info Welcome

[BTU]

Anyone know what Chiltern rail are like to work for? also what is their geographical range Ive looked it doesnt seem that big are subdays in the working week ? any information really would be good , also depot locations I know of Bandury but little else .Many thanks.

 

[TDK]

Anyone know what Chiltern rail are like to work for? also what is their geographical range Ive looked it doesnt seem that big are subdays in the working week ? any information really would be good , also depot locations I know of Bandury but little else .Many thanks.

You have Depot wise, Marylebone, Birmingham Moor Street, Aylesbury, Stourbridge and Banbury. Sundays are committed, geographical range is Kidderminster to London, London to Aylesbury on the Met line, and from Princes risborough to Aylesbury along the branch. The routes south of Banbury are DOO. The salary is good, they are on a non conformist 5 day week. As a whole it was a good company to work for when I was there but unfortunately started to become a bit more draconian just before I left. The unions are strong within the company.

 

[E16 Cyclist]

As part of the last pay deal aslef secured an agreement that Sunday's are entirely voluntary and should you have a booked Sunday all you need to do is give 10 days notice that you're unavailable

 

[BTU]

As part of the last pay deal aslef secured an agreement that Sunday's are entirely voluntary and should you have a booked Sunday all you need to do is give 10 days notice that you're unavailable

My lot have Sunday outside the working week but they are not that easy to get rid of always subject to cover and you need to find that cover. I was wondering more about the daily work load is it similar to metro work ? And the kind of turn around time what's that like? Also what traction are the using these days?

 

[TDK]

My lot have Sunday outside the working week but they are not that easy to get rid of always subject to cover and you need to find that cover. I was wondering more about the daily work load is it similar to metro work ? And the kind of turn around time what's that like? Also what traction are the using these days?

Traction is 165,168, 172 and class 68/DVT. The daily work load is quite relaxed in comparison to some TOC's and mostly a combination of local and express work.

 

[BTU]

Do you by any chance work there TDK? or do you know people that do? I am looking to do the off as soon as something else comes up I am sick to the back teeth of these diagrams I keep getting Saturday 115 stops worked like a dog and the rest of the week is much the same four Metro drives a day is now the norm as opposed to the three we used to get which in its self is still not great and the turn arounds dont get me started you will be lucky to see 6 minutes on a 12 car the rest is nearly all 5 minutes.

 

[E16 Cyclist]

Saturdays can be fairly brutal as theres an agreement for 50% rest days and so obviously the diagrams we have are that much more loaded but even that compared to other toc's it isn't really that bad, and during the week some of the worst diagrams would probably rate as other toc's best

The only thing to be aware of is the stopping patterns are all really random and can catch you out as apart from Aylesbury services down the met theres no set stopping pattern and does keep you on your toes

 

[t_star2001uk]

London drivers go as far as Birmingham Snow Hill and Aylesbury Vale Parkway with all stops in between. There is a small link that goes to Willesden as well. As HexDriver has already said the Saturdays can be a bit loaded to accomodate the 50% rest days. Depending on which depot that you are interested in will determine the traction. Marylebone sign all apart from the Heritage fleet. Aylesbury sign all units apart from 172's also link 1 drivers sign Paddington. Im not sure what Banbury, Birmingham and Stourbridge sign but im sure there are other Chiltern or ex Chiltern drivers from those depots who can fill in the blanks.

 

[BTU]

Thanks for all the info doesnt sound too bad and certainly sounds better than my work load , one other thing, is there a lot of DOO work? or is most of it conductor/guard and driver work? I dont mind irregular stopping patterns keeps you focused on the task in hand you can zone out a bit with the same old same old.

 

[t_star2001uk]

all unit work south of Banbury is DOO. Loco hauled has a guard on board all of the way from London. Any thing north of Banbury has a guard.

 

[BTU]

London drivers go as far as Birmingham Snow Hill and Aylesbury Vale Parkway with all stops in between. There is a small link that goes to Willesden as well. As HexDriver has already said the Saturdays can be a bit loaded to accomodate the 50% rest days. Depending on which depot that you are interested in will determine the traction. Marylebone sign all apart from the Heritage fleet. Aylesbury sign all units apart from 172's also link 1 drivers sign Paddington. Im not sure what Banbury, Birmingham and Stourbridge sign but im sure there are other Chiltern or ex Chiltern drivers from those depots who can fill in the blanks.

All stops to Birmingham from London thats about 27 odd stops ,how many of those would you do in a day?

 

[t_star2001uk]

Todays job was to Birmingham Snow hill with an 8 car 168 split then back to Birmingham Moor Street. PNB. 68 back to London. PNB .London to Gerrards Cross and back. On at 07.54 Off at 15.43 7.49hrs

 

[Nuttytoffee]

Can I ask what 50% rest day agreement is? Does that mean you work one in 2 Saturdays? Especially interested from the Birmingham point of view. Many thanks.

 

[BTU]

That doesnt sound too sore how many stops would that be ? and is that about the average for the normal working day ? I take it you are based at Marylebone how many links do you have and how many drivers ? sorry about all the questions but thats where id be looking to go to as I live in London.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

You can get a feel for the number of stops just by looking at the timetable. Most of the London to Birmingham stuff will typically have 6 - 10 stops (the only intermediate stations where almost everything will stop are Banbury, Leamington Spa, Warwick Parkway & Solihull) and because it's a two track railway at the London end even the local services tend to have 'semi fast' stopping patterns.

The only exceptions really are the London to Aylesbury trains which usually stop everywhere whether they go via the Met or via High Wycombe but as it's a half hourly service on the Met and hourly via Wycombe then you aren't really going to be slogging it out all day on intensive stuff, especially if you're not based at Aylesbury.

Route wise, it's mostly been covered. I think there is one link at Aylesbury which doesn't sign to Birmingham but that aside everybody signs Marylebone to Snow Hill. Everybody except Stourbridge signs the Met. London, Banbury and Aylesbury sign to Oxford Parkway, Banbury and Birmingham sign to Stratford upon Avon, Birmingham and Stourbridge sign to Kidderminster.
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Can I ask what 50% rest day agreement is? Does that mean you work one in 2 Saturdays? Especially interested from the Birmingham point of view. Many thanks.

Kinda, but it's not one on one off. We get 50% of Saturdays off over a 28 (I think) week period. It might mean you do three out of four Saturdays one month but then one out of four the next.

 

[BTU]

Thank you all for the info.
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Just another question what are the earliest starts and latest finishes at Marylebone is there a taxi agreement in place?

 

[t_star2001uk]

m-f earliest is 04.55 (taxi in). Latest PM finish is 01.22 taxi home...

 

[BTU]

Can anyone tell me the earliest starts and latest finishing times at Marylebone also is there a taxi arrangement in place? Thanks in advance.

 

[t_star2001uk]

M-F Earliest start is 04.55 (taxi in). Latest PM finish is 01.22 taxi home...

The taxi agreement is starting before 05.30 and after midnight.