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Location and distance for London TOCs

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M100nja

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Guildford
Hello all,

I am a qualified driver looking to relocate to Milton Keynes. I was wondering if there are any drivers at the following depots who can kindly let me know (PM or otherwise) if their depots cater for drivers who live further down the line. I.e does your depot have a separate link for drivers who cannot make the earliest start or latest finish diagrams.

EMR - St Pancras
LNER - Kings Cross
Avanti West Coast - Euston
Great Northern - Kings Cross

Further to the above, do you know of any drivers at your depot who live in or around Milton Keynes and commute to your depot. The same questions apply to Birmingham based drivers - would Milton Keynes be too far off to consider a commute?

Many Thanks
 
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RailUK Forums

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West Midlands Trains (LNR brand) is the nearest TOC and have depots in the area of imagine . No chance at Great northern as it's been downsized and has only retained senior drivers as far as I know.
 

M100nja

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Guildford
Thanks for the input guys, I ask because we are looking to buy our first home and where I live now I am restricted to the TOC I currently work for.

Incase of things going south for whatever reason, I’d want to be living somewhere where I had options. I know there are a few depots in the MK/Bedford area, just wanted to know if I’d be considered for any of the London TOCs also.
 

whoosh

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EMR, St Pancras:
There's two links. One is for existing drivers who didn't want to opt into Sundays in the working week, and the other link is for those that did want to opt in, plus everyone else who joins the company from now on. They both have the same jobs dotted around the roster.

I don't know what it is currently, but upto last week the earliest starts were 04:29, 04:30, 05:17, and 06:17. There's more AMs than PMs there and the start times carry on upto mid-morning between 9 and 10am. PMs last one finished just after midnight I think, although there was a spare that booked off at 01:00.
Sundays, earliest start was 08:27, and there weren't that many diagrams on a Sunday - only about 8. It's less than 1 in 3 Sundays at work.
4 day week.

No taxi agreement. I think they still get free parking in the car park underneath the station though.


LNER Kings Cross:
Two links, Link 1, and 'Thunderbird link' for the senior drivers who sign 67s - don't know if they still will with these new Azumas they now have though.
Apart from that, they've got the same work.
Upto last week the earliest sign on was 05:28, and the latest book off I could find was 23:40 on a running turn and 00:30 for a spare.
Sundays are in the working week. Earliest was 06:20.
4.25 day average working week. Pretty much every other weekend off, but every other working both the Sat and Sun.

No taxi agreement.


Avanti West Coast:
I don't know, sorry.

Great Northern, Kings Cross;
This depot was downsized and work moved out to a new traincrew depot at Hornsey. There's a waiting list for moves back to Kings Cross, so you won't get in there I'm afraid.

Bedford Thameslink was also downsized and work moved to new traincrew depots at Luton and St Albans. The last time I checked there were a staggering FIFTY-TWO drivers on the transfer list wanting to go to Bedford. So no chance there either.

Nearest depots I can think of (but you might need to drive), are Chiltern at Aylesbury - I think they have a depot at Banbury as well, Thameslink at St Albans and Cricklewood, West Midlands at Bletchley and Northampton, and EMR are opening a new depot at Kettering.
 

TTDARL

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Freightliner Heavy Haul are currently recruiting for qualified drivers at their Bedford depot, amongst several other depots nationwide.
Freightliner Intermodal are also recruiting for qualified drivers for various depots nationwide.
 

M100nja

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Joined
17 May 2020
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Location
Guildford
EMR, St Pancras:
There's two links. One is for existing drivers who didn't want to opt into Sundays in the working week, and the other link is for those that did want to opt in, plus everyone else who joins the company from now on. They both have the same jobs dotted around the roster.

I don't know what it is currently, but upto last week the earliest starts were 04:29, 04:30, 05:17, and 06:17. There's more AMs than PMs there and the start times carry on upto mid-morning between 9 and 10am. PMs last one finished just after midnight I think, although there was a spare that booked off at 01:00.
Sundays, earliest start was 08:27, and there weren't that many diagrams on a Sunday - only about 8. It's less than 1 in 3 Sundays at work.
4 day week.

No taxi agreement. I think they still get free parking in the car park underneath the station though.


LNER Kings Cross:
Two links, Link 1, and 'Thunderbird link' for the senior drivers who sign 67s - don't know if they still will with these new Azumas they now have though.
Apart from that, they've got the same work.
Upto last week the earliest sign on was 05:28, and the latest book off I could find was 23:40 on a running turn and 00:30 for a spare.
Sundays are in the working week. Earliest was 06:20.
4.25 day average working week. Pretty much every other weekend off, but every other working both the Sat and Sun.

No taxi agreement.


Avanti West Coast:
I don't know, sorry.

Great Northern, Kings Cross;
This depot was downsized and work moved out to a new traincrew depot at Hornsey. There's a waiting list for moves back to Kings Cross, so you won't get in there I'm afraid.

Bedford Thameslink was also downsized and work moved to new traincrew depots at Luton and St Albans. The last time I checked there were a staggering FIFTY-TWO drivers on the transfer list wanting to go to Bedford. So no chance there either.

Nearest depots I can think of (but you might need to drive), are Chiltern at Aylesbury - I think they have a depot at Banbury as well, Thameslink at St Albans and Cricklewood, West Midlands at Bletchley and Northampton, and EMR are opening a new depot at Kettering.

Much appreciated, thank you for your time and effort
 

43066

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Keep in mind if you worked at a central London depot (certainly any of Euston, St Pancras or Kings +), you would be able to use 24 hour GTR trains to get to work. I know drivers who drive to a GTR station and park up there - most have agreements for free staff parking. Bedford would be the obvious choice.

The approach to commuting time for qualified drivers is less strict than for trainees, certainly at my place (we have drivers who live further away than MK and were recruited as such). I assume because it’s much less of a buyer’s market.
 

M100nja

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17 May 2020
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Location
Guildford
Keep in mind if you worked at a central London depot (certainly any of Euston, St Pancras or Kings +), you would be able to use 24 hour GTR trains to get to work. I know drivers who drive to a GTR station and park up there - most have agreements for free staff parking. Bedford would be the obvious choice.

The approach to commuting time for qualified drivers is less strict than for trainees, certainly at my place (we have drivers who live further away than MK and were recruited as such). I assume because it’s much less of a buyer’s market.

Amazing.. I never knew GTR were 24 hours. Thank you, just the type of reassurance I was looking for!
 

baz962

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Amazing.. I never knew GTR were 24 hours. Thank you, just the type of reassurance I was looking for!
There is a slight gap on Saturday night ( actually Sunday am ) and start of Sunday services , but is pretty much 24 hour's as said above. I have to pay for parking at Bedford , but some of my colleagues that left for EMR at St pancras , get free travel on gtr and can nominate two gtr car parks to park at
 

M100nja

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Messages
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Location
Guildford
There is a slight gap on Saturday night ( actually Sunday am ) and start of Sunday services , but is pretty much 24 hour's as said above. I have to pay for parking at Bedford , but some of my colleagues that left for EMR at St pancras , get free travel on gtr and can nominate two gtr car parks to park at

Great to know, much appreciated! Seems like there are plenty options living in MK and working for any of the London TOCs out of Kings x/Euston
 

43066

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There is a slight gap on Saturday night ( actually Sunday am ) and start of Sunday services , but is pretty much 24 hour's as said above. I have to pay for parking at Bedford , but some of my colleagues that left for EMR at St pancras , get free travel on gtr and can nominate two gtr car parks to park at

The sparse Saturday night/Sunday morning service doesn’t cause too many problems, because our first Sunday turns book on a lot later than other days of the week.

The main moan seems to be that, because the late night GTR trains are pretty infrequent, people often have to get to work 30 mins + before they book on, because the next available train would be too late.
 
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baz962

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The sparse Saturday night/Sunday morning service doesn’t cause too many problems, because our first Sunday turns book on a lot later than other days of the week.

The main moan seems to be that, because the late night GTR trains are pretty infrequent, people often have to get to work 30 mins + before they book on, because the next available train would be too late.
Of course. But I guess it depends on what toc you work for , as to what the first turn is on a Sunday.
 
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