Privateluke
Member
I am under the impression that there is going to be an assessment as part of the recruitment process to find out the French's knowledge of the candidates. No?
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Eurostar - Qualified Train Drivers (16/01/23)
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martin2345uk
Established Member
Oh I see. For my intake it was a phone conversation in French but for this one I doubt it will be that. I think the other groups had some kind of French aptitude assessment on one of the assessment days. @Astro_Orbiter might be able to to confirm 
Privateluke
Member
Thanks DudeOh I see. For my intake it was a phone conversation in French but for this one I doubt it will be that. I think the other groups had some kind of French aptitude assessment on one of the assessment days. @Astro_Orbiter might be able to to confirm
martin2345uk
Established Member
Language training will be given if needed yes.
Someone asked this question yesterday, so a friend of mine ( train driver) asked a current Eurostar driver. Apparently they have had a few emails and enquiries regarding this and so they are going to disregard that question at initial stage and let any applicants they want to move forward answer at a different stage.
Does anyone know what the nights are like in terms of work, and whether they're easy to swap out if you prefer to do that?
Would also be interested to know if Eurostar have an agreement with GTR to travel to work for free with them? My old TOC did, but I'm guessing possibly not for Eurostar as it'd be hard for them to reciprocate. And would I lose my priv card if I jumped ship?
I'm in two minds as to whether to apply. Quite fancy the learning French and the driving to the continent part, although the route does look pretty dull. Obviously the wage is a bit better than at my current TOC, but don't want to base my decision purely on that.
Would also be interested to know if Eurostar have an agreement with GTR to travel to work for free with them? My old TOC did, but I'm guessing possibly not for Eurostar as it'd be hard for them to reciprocate. And would I lose my priv card if I jumped ship?
I'm in two minds as to whether to apply. Quite fancy the learning French and the driving to the continent part, although the route does look pretty dull. Obviously the wage is a bit better than at my current TOC, but don't want to base my decision purely on that.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Cant speak for your other questions but no, no free travel to work sadly!
lammergeier
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Does anyone know if E* drivers qualify for priv, or priv rate seasons for commuting?
Ah, shame, that would have been very convenient. I understand from other threads that there's a travel allowance of approx. £3.5k for commuting, does that sound right?
S-Car-Go
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All Eurostar employees have access to a priv card for UK leisure travel, and a FIP card for european travel.
Alas the priv cannot be used to commute to/from work. The travel allowance is based on purchasing a season ticket and the company pays you back some of the costs (when I left in 2019 it was approx £1500, likely more now).
lammergeier
Member
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That's good to know, thanks for the info.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Yes it's a £3500 contribution towards a season ticket (but it's before tax, I don't really understand how that works but it means you don't get the full £3500)
Sounds like it'd be a big help though, so thanks for the info.
Would still be very interested to know more about the night turns if anyone knows?
May I ask why you left??
Trainrave
Member
I presume the railway standard “you must live within 1 hour of the depot” applies here?
I’m a driver in Northern England and wonder where someone in my position would be best relocating to.
I can’t apply in any case as I don’t currently meet the requirement.
I’m a driver in Northern England and wonder where someone in my position would be best relocating to.
I can’t apply in any case as I don’t currently meet the requirement.
The SNCF Link is 17 lines with 3 blocks of nights.
That's good to know, thanks. Any idea if nights are generally swappable? Where I currently am I prefer certain shifts, and find I can usually swap the ones I prefer not to do.
They are swappable. Just depends whether you can get someone to agree to the swap though. Most don't like nights themselves.
Ah yes, that's more what I meant. I know at some TOCs the night turns are very light on driving, so plenty of drivers like them. Not in this case, it seems. That's valuable info, thanks.
martin2345uk
Established Member
Eurostar International Train Driver 2019
Hi, Does anyone know what the night work is like? And rough start and finish time? Cheers Nights = to and from the depot, with an occasional shunt.... earliest nights start 20:00 ish and the latest finish is 08:08. See current SNCF roster below - (4 digit turn numbers are lodges, yellow...
www.railforums.co.uk
Post 31 in the above thread shows an example of the SNCF roster, how much it's changed since 2019 I've no idea but gives you a flavour at least...
mindthedoors
Member
Bonjour! Thanks to those asking good questions, I've been lurking in the forum appreciating the input.
For those who are active and were successful in the last intake, how long after the advert expiring did you get a call for interview/assessment?
I'm in that old predicament where I have two different TOCs I've applied for and the less favourable has invited me for interview.
Cheers
For those who are active and were successful in the last intake, how long after the advert expiring did you get a call for interview/assessment?
I'm in that old predicament where I have two different TOCs I've applied for and the less favourable has invited me for interview.
Cheers
martin2345uk
Established Member
I applied on 6th July last year, and got an email on the 18th of July. But I don't know what date the advert closed!
mindthedoors
Member
Thanks for that. I applied 7th July but didn't get a knock back until 12th August. I couldn't tick the B1 box unfortunately so had it coming.
martin2345uk
Established Member
To be fair it was up longer than a lot of vacancies are in this industry 
D6130
Established Member
As a matter of interest, do Eurostar drivers still have overnight lodging turns in Paris and Brussels....as they did when I applied in 2000?
D6130
Established Member
My ex-Skipton colleague, who started with Eurostar with the second intake of drivers in 1997 or 98, relocated to Milton Keynes. At that time you had to live within 45 minutes travelling time from London and MK suited him as he and his wife were both originally from the Glasgow area and could easily travel from home from there to visit family and friends. At the time, Virgin Trains were the UK partner in Eurostar and Eurostar staff and their families were entitled to unlimited free travel on all their services - both West Coast and Cross Country - for both work and leisure purposes. How times have changed!
Nowadays, I would have thought that the best areas in which to reside for Eurostar drivers would be places with direct train services to and from St Pancras or Kings Cross - or, at a stretch, Euston - given that most turns book on and off at St Pancras.
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