First Group East Coast

[Wolfmitch]

Hello
I have my assessment very soon and if successful I will have a pay cut from my current job when starting my training
Can anybody advise of the pay increments as I have tried asking First Group but no reply to emails
Thank you

 

[irish_rail]

The golden rule when applying for a train driving job is do not mention the money at any point. I certainly wouldn't be emailing first about it. You either want the job or you don't, there is more to life than money. If it's going to be too bigger hit then don't go for it.

 

[Wolfmitch]

Thank you

 

[Danno85]

I agree to a certain extent with Irish rail, wages certainly should not be one of your first questions.

However, I do feel that it is a question that you are well within your rights to ask about and it you shouldn't be and won't be held against you. We all have financial commitments in one way or another and you need to know what you are going to be earning at certain stages to plan ahead.

I was in the same position as you and asked the same questions.

Sorry I can't help you with your actual question for this TOC though.

Good luck.

 

[Driver068]

There is little to no information on the pay with the new OAO East Coast Trains Ltd.
However i would expect the pay to be in line with other operators towards the lower end - competitive some what. I would say as a fully qualified driver, pay would be around mid 50s. Starting wage more than likely lower 20s whilst in training. After 1st year mid to higher 30s, Year 2 mid 40s then after 3 years and fully qualified mid 50s.
However this could be completely incorrect but i know of some TOCs that work like this. I dont suppose you could go far wrong with this.
Each company operates differently but i expect the wages to be competitive.
Again i may be far of the mark and completely wrong, but i do know some drivers who have applied and they have adopted this approach.

On the matter of asking, personally i would not bother asking. Make that decision when you have passed everything and offered the job, the pay undoubtedly will become apparent through this process or when you recieved your contract, then you can make that decision if its not too late. Yes you want to know and have a family, bils ect to pay for but knowing the research on other TOCs and how good the money is on the railway, you will know in a limited short space of time you will be earning more than previous job(s)
The money will be good, just concentrate on the hurdles you need to jump 1st.

Hope this helps and good luck

 

[KJ83]

What date did you go for?

 

[theironroad]

In the current climate of the uncertainty of what the government's plan is for the railways and First group's own financial woes right now, I'm very surprised that this is still going ahead. Bear in mind that First's current OA operator, Hull Trains still hasn't resumed service yet.

However, if they are pushing ahead, then best of luck to anyone applying.

 

[Frankfurt]

£61k qualified, £35k whilst training. Afraid I don't know any of the finer detail and if increase is incremental or not.

 

[KJ83]

£61k qualified, £35k whilst training. Afraid I don't know any of the finer detail and if increase is incremental or not.

Is that written down anywhere? I was thinking more 50-55k as most of the other operators are around that, the only one above 60 is GWR

 

[KJ83]

In the current climate of the uncertainty of what the government's plan is for the railways and First group's own financial woes right now, I'm very surprised that this is still going ahead. Bear in mind that First's current OA operator, Hull Trains still hasn't resumed service yet.

However, if they are pushing ahead, then best of luck to anyone applying.

That was something I was thinking about, but I was hoping that maybe the start up is already funded. first did say they had enough money to continue for 12 months so hopefully things will pick up, the government is encouraging people to return to the office and dropping the essential travel only this week.
I'd like to think the government would help First out, if they went under it would leave a huge gap in the railways with GWR SWR TPE HT all going at once.

Guess time will tell, but the testing starts this week and hasn't been cancelled so they're pressing ahead.

 

[ainsworth74]

Is that written down anywhere? I was thinking more 50-55k as most of the other operators are around that, the only one above 60 is GWR

LNER are currently at £69k, TPE are at £58k and Northern are at £51k (all figures are as per ASLEF, here for LNER, here for TPE and here for Northern). So £61k would be a decent offer if you're hoping to lure qualified drivers over (particularly if you're a Northern driver though it would, admittedly, be less appealing to LNER drivers) whilst putting the First East Coast operation at the upper end of the pack locally (at least for Newcastle) in terms of driver wages in general.

 

[Efini92]

LNER are currently at £69k, TPE are at £58k and Northern are at £51k (all figures are as per ASLEF, here for LNER, here for TPE and here for Northern). So £61k would be a decent offer if you're hoping to lure qualified drivers over (particularly if you're a Northern driver though it would, admittedly, be less appealing to LNER drivers) whilst putting the First East Coast operation at the upper end of the pack locally (at least for Newcastle) in terms of driver wages in general.

Northern is £54500

 

[LCC106]

Yep. Aslef website can be a bit behind the times quite shockingly.

 

[Lufcman]

Is that written down anywhere? I was thinking more 50-55k as most of the other operators are around that, the only one above 60 is GWR

Thameslink is £63196 (Sundays Out)
I previously worked for firstgroup and they usually pay half of full salary whilst training.

 

[TeaTrain]

I am on training wage for TPE now at 24k and after 8 weeks goes to 58k. When I start that is as I am at home waiting for my training to start!

 

[Wolfmitch]

I agree to a certain extent with Irish rail, wages certainly should not be one of your first questions.

However, I do feel that it is a question that you are well within your rights to ask about and it you shouldn't be and won't be held against you. We all have financial commitments in one way or another and you need to know what you are going to be earning at certain stages to plan ahead.

I was in the same position as you and asked the same questions.

Sorry I can't help you with your actual question for this TOC though.

Good luck.

Thank you

 

[221129]

I'd like to think the government would help First out, if they went under it would leave a huge gap in the railways with GWR SWR TPE HT all going at once.

Not sure why you would think that. Hull Trains isn't running at the moment and will get no government support as an OAO. All the others can be taken over by the Operator of Last Resort as happened with LNER and Northern.