GTR Control, Three Bridges

[Barnabus]

Hi folks

I'm a newbie to the site, sent here by a friend.

I've an application in with GTR for a control room role, I was wondering if people can give me a more complete picture of how things work there and more specifically with regards to Customer Service.

Thanks

B

 

[TomBoyd]

Control do not work in any customer facing position. You would, more than likely, have no contact with any member of the traveling public up there.

They deal with incidents, stock management, that sort of thing. The team currently is in deep need of some effective and decisive talent.

 

[Barnabus]

Control do not work in any customer facing position. You would, more than likely, have no contact with any member of the traveling public up there.

They deal with incidents, stock management, that sort of thing. The team currently is in deep need of some effective and decisive talent.

There is a Customer Service Team based with GTR control and it's this I'm after researching.

So what's the deep need for talent all about? I'm aware Thameslink have had some problems

 

[TomBoyd]

They got rid of, or lost, a lot of very good people in the transition.

 

[plastictaffy]

Good luck to you if you want that job.
You'll need thick skin, you'll need to be capable of thinking quickly on your feet in times of excrement and ventilation colliding at high velocity and you'll have to be on the ball when it comes to prioritising your workload. Our control guys touch somewhere around the mid to high thirties salary-wise.
Enjoy the challenge.

 

[TomBoyd]

Good luck to you if you want that job.
You'll need thick skin, you'll need to be capable of thinking quickly on your feet in times of excrement and ventilation colliding at high velocity

Often coming directly from me.

 

[Barnabus]

Thanks guys, Plastictaffy when you say your control guys who do you mean?

 

[sarahj]

Ahhh, that must be the job at the end of the 'cntrl cus serv' number that I never bother ringing cause there is no point. I just call normal control and get a response from them.

TBH, not a job I would fancy working in. when its fine, no issues, but it goes tits up, as it often does on the BML, it goes tits up big time. I dont get around 150 messages a day for nothing.

 

[Jonfun]

Ahhh, that must be the job at the end of the 'cntrl cus serv' number that I never bother ringing cause there is no point. I just call normal control and get a response from them.

"Why are you ringing me? That's not *my* job to deal with."

<after many, many calls in the last hour ringing out, or an engaged tone>
"Well, if you'd have rung *earlier*, I might have been able to do something."

 

[LBSCR Times]

They got rid of, or lost, a lot of very good people in the transition.

Some chose to leave after the move from West Hampstead, but no-one was got rid of. And those who have tried to get VR since, in conjunction with the GTR reorganisation, have all been refused.

It takes time to train new staff, more so as there is no effective line of promotion within the Control these days, never mind that NR's Control staff salaries are considerably higher!

As for Customer Service posts, the only ones I can think of (assuming it refers to GTR as the new bigger company), are those dealing with social media. Otherwise the posts must be the Customer Information Controllers, or the equivalent Customer Ambassadors (similar but includes CCTV and Help Points, where you would be speaking to the public).
The salaries for these posts are in the £20-25k range.

 

[Barnabus]

Ahhh, that must be the job at the end of the 'cntrl cus serv' number that I never bother ringing cause there is no point.

That's the team I'm talking about!

So have you ever spoken to them then?

 

[sarahj]

That's the team I'm talking about!

So have you ever spoken to them then?

I used to, but dont bother. The words chocolate and teapot come to mind from my last calls to that number. Unlike normal control, they seemed to be surprised about train ID numbers and follow up was non existent.

Call:
Hello, this is Sarah, the conductor of 1A63 from A to B. I've got a passenger who has informed me that this is so and what to do.
Your a conductor...oh right, what train
1A63 from a to B
ohhh, errr.
Yes, I'm at C now and the passenger got on at D
D, where is that, what train are you?
And on, and on and on.
I'm now at a station, got to go.
Sorry, what train was that again and where are you.......
Bye,
Wait, what, errrrr
:roll:
I'm sure if you get the job it might be a call worth making.

 

[Barnabus]

Ah right cheers. I used to work in delay attribution so I'm aware of train IDs etc!

What sort of queries would you call them or Control with?

 

[TomBoyd]

Ah right cheers. I used to work in delay attribution so I'm aware of train IDs etc!

What sort of queries would you call them or Control with?

You worked in Delay? for Network Rail? Isn't it a huge paycut?

 

[Barnabus]

You worked in Delay? for Network Rail? Isn't it a huge paycut?

Not from what I've been told. This isnt an interview for customer service staff.

 

[TomBoyd]

If you work for NR at the moment, have you thought about looking on the internal job list for signalling vacancies?

 

[Barnabus]

If you work for NR at the moment, have you thought about looking on the internal job list for signalling vacancies?

I don't work for them anymore, though Delay Attributors used to earn more than signallers depending on location, may well have changed now as this was a long time ago

 

[TomBoyd]

fair enough mate, and you're not wrong, TDAs were about a Grade 7 Signalling salary!

 

[Yabbadabba]

fair enough mate, and you're not wrong, TDAs were about a Grade 7 Signalling salary!

All of our TDACs at TBASC are grade 5 in fact one has just applied for signaller grade 7 and signaller grade 8 at TBROC as well as signaller grade 9 TBASC.