Drivers, what did you do beforehand?

[Bucephalus]

I certainly don't want to encourage people to share more than they feel comfortable with but my question is this:

train drivers on here, 1: what career did you move out of before being accepted as a train or tram driver? And 2: what made you want to do it?

Are there any miracle stories, I.e, did anyone go straight from say retail or delivery driving to train driver?

I know kinda fits the becoming a train driver thread but I'm curious about the career journey towards it specifically. FOC, TOC, or LRV

 

[RBSN]

I certainly don't want to encourage people to share more than they feel comfortable with but my question is this:

train drivers on here, 1: what career did you move out of before being accepted as a train or tram driver? And 2: what made you want to do it?

Are there any miracle stories, I.e, did anyone go straight from say retail or delivery driving to train driver?

I know kinda fits the becoming a train driver thread but I'm curious about the career journey towards it specifically. FOC, TOC, or LRV

I was a lithograph printer for 13 years (5 as an apprentice).

The threat of being made redundant pretty much every year made me want to look for other careers.

Working in the printing industry gave me fantastic experience (working long hours, high levels of concenration, shift work, technically minded and so on) and I passed my initial interview to become a trainee train driver with flying colours.

I’m now into my second year as a qualified driver for a TOC.

 

[ComUtoR]

Are there any miracle stories, I.e, did anyone go straight from say retail or delivery driving to train driver?

Miracle. Why is a retail background considered a miracle ?

 

[Gemz91]

I went from catering outside the railways, to customer host (1 year), train guard (for a different TOC, 3 years), driver with the same TOC I was a guard for.

Always seemed like a logical career path to me, always wanted to take the next step on the career so I applied for a drivers role. Only problem is now, if I wanted to move into the management grade it would involve moving two hours away which i don't particularly want, so feeling at a bit of a dead end now.

 

[Bucephalus]

Miracle. Why is a retail background considered a miracle ?

Sorry, miracle is probably a bit over the top. I have a retail / delivery driving / customer service background and it feels like the train driver role is a million miles from me, hence why it feels to me like a miracle.

And thanks #2 and #4 for your your replies. There is some food for thought for me

 

[ComUtoR]

I would urge you to look through some of the threads on here about peoples backgrounds and who and who does not struggle to get in.

The best thing I have found with rail recruitment is that it is the most open door policy that I have ever come across. Pass the tests and your in. The railway is quite diverse tbh.

 

[baz962]

I was a car park attendant

 

[t_star2001uk]

I worked in the tech office for Trans Manche Link, making the segments for the channel tunnel. The railway was a temporary job until the next big contract came up. 30 years this year....

 

[4F89]

Currently working in a warehouse on a forklift, but hopefully not for long!

 

[scotraildriver]

My class of trainees consisted of an ASDA manager, a postman, a bus driver, a bus mechanic, a driving instructor, a fireman, a UPS driver and a policewoman. That was 15 years ago though, there is a definate lean towards emergency services/forces at the momnet.

 

[R Trevithick]

I worked as a customer service agent at an Airport

 

[TheEdge]

Before driver I was a guard, before that I was a student

 

[choochoochoo]

Our mess room has an ex premier league footballer, airline pilots, radio DJs.

 

[PudseyBearHST]

A very good percentage at ICWC, certainly most of the top couple of link drivers, joined as Traction Trainees at the age of 18 straight from school.

Obviously, no one considered it to be a ‘miracle’ then. Wonder why...

 

[TheEdge]

...airline pilots...

That surprises me actually...

 

[MostlyHarmless]

Before driver I was a guard, before that I was a student

What about the time you played guitar with U2?

 

[Leep1]

Interesting thread.. I worked as a sales rep before becoming a driver.

 

[Leep1]

That surprises me actually...

One guy at my depot used to be an airline pilot, he prefers the rest pattern on the railways and being home every night, although he used to earn a lot more working as a pilot.

 

[Indy3995]

Firefighter for 13 years, currently a bus driver, awaiting a start date with GWR

 

[MisterT]

1: I was a sysadmin before I became a train driver. Even though the payment is lower as a train driver (at least here in the Netherlands), I absolutely enjoy being a train driver and never regretted the change (well, on second thought, maybe only when I have to start at 4 am ).

2: I didn't enjoy my job anymore and I wanted a change. Never thought about being a train driver before, but a friend pointed me in that direction. Somehow I passed all tests and now I've been a train driver for almost a decade.

 

[Tringonometry]

Finance minion
Management accountant
Financial analyst
IT consultant
*gear change without clutch*
Train driver

 

[driver9000]

1. Left school at 16 with mediocre GCSE results. Passed my PCV test aged 18 and stayed in that job until I joined the railway as trainee Driver aged 23. Still enjoying it 13 years on.

2. I was the little boy who always wanted to be a Train Driver.

 

[bionic]

I was a milkman and then an undertaker before getting my start as a driver.

 

[36270k]

Started as an apprentice in a Hillman garage.
Did 10 years secondman then driver on BR, got bored.
Then spent 30 wonderful years working for an IT company travelling round the country and abroad.

 

[Bromley boy]

1. Corporate tax lawyer, initially at a law firm, then in an international tax structuring team at a big 4 professional services firm.

2. The move was driven by long hours/stress/dickhead colleagues, a wish to do something more socially useful, and a desire for better work life balance.

Also I quite like trains and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

+ It feels good to walk to work in steel toe capped boots rather than church’s.

 

[Bromley boy]

I was a milkman and then an undertaker before getting my start as a driver.

Undertaker? Blimey. I bet that was dead good.

 

[baz962]

Undertaker, blimey. I bet that was dead good.

I thought you said you were on the post?!

Here's your coat

 

[Narom]

That surprises me actually...

That doesn't me. A lot of pilots nowadays don't earn megabucks. I know a Ryanair pilot and separately a jet2, they'd both love a major carrier job. with the lower airlines you're very much just a number. There is more than enough pilots to meet the UKs need and dead man shoes, much like trains, so getting the good gigs is hard work. A lot move out to the middle east, the jet2 one i know worked in south east asia to get his hours as he couldn't find the work here.

 

[sw1ller]

1) ex military, ex HGV.

2) sick of getting made redundant. Railways seems fairly safe. Two options, work with the people or work on my own? I hate people so I went with dribbler....... (I typed in driver there and my phone autocorrected.... and I think it’s worth leaving as is!!)

 

[Urobach]

1. Left school at 16 with mediocre GCSE results. Passed my PCV test aged 18 and stayed in that job until I joined the railway as trainee Driver aged 23. Still enjoying it 13 years on.

2. I was the little boy who always wanted to be a Train Driver.

Almost exactly that - insert dropping out of uni and becoming a bus driver at 21 before getting a train driving job at 24. Never looked back