Hi everyone, first time poster although been reading these forums as a guest for quite a while now.
After more than 2 years, finally been given a training start date first week in February subject to my 2nd medical on Monday and seeing as I passed my last one it should be all systems go.
I have a few questions which I can't find answers to on this thread so I'm hoping you guys can fill me in.
Re Holidays: Are they built into the rota or can you take them when you want?
Re Depots: What kind of staff facilities do they usually have ie canteen, lockers, showers etc
What's the odds of getting Stratford? I live in Romford and go West Ham every other Saturday so it would be really convenient if I could end up there. Next best would be Hainault or Loughton.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
You get 8 weeks which are allocated, then a week of floating days that you can take whenever according to coverage.
Basically according to GOAL which governs our annual leave, you should get 2 weeks allocated every quarter based on a rota. So if you were annual leave period 10 you would get whatever 2 weeks period 10 was down to get.
you can arrange a mutual leave swap with another driver if you both have something the other wants.
this works a little bit differently for trainees because you get 1 week of annual leave built into the training (week 9 off the top of my head?).
Depot facilities are generally lockers, showers, toilets, computer room, mess room with TV and kitchen facilities, free tea and coffee (vending machine) and vending machines which sell soft drinks and snacks. Parking is better at some depots than others.
Some depots also have additional facilities - canteen, pool/snooker room, etc.
You will not get to choose your depot, it is allocated to you in your first week of training. You can do a mutual swap with other drivers on your training course only. After that, you need to choose 2 depots to transfer to (for full time) and you can also choose night tube depots to transfer to.
You are not eligible to transfer for at least 12 months (normally 18) and if you do a night tube to night tube transfer you won’t be eligible to go full time for 12-18 months after that transfer, so think long and hard before you put one in.
your odds of getting Stratford as a night tube depot is incredibly low. It is one of the few night tube depots that have a waiting list for drivers to transfer to it.
It also has a significant full time waiting list, the driver at the top of the full time list has been waiting for almost 4 years.
Also only certain depots are night tube depots, it tends to be only 1 at each end of the line.
Hainault and Loughton are not night tube depots - they are full time only, as the Night Tube depots on the central line are white city and Leytonstone.
the choice between ASLEF and RMT is best made depending on what depot you get. RMT is the strongest union on the Piccadilly Line for example, but ASLEF is the stronger union on other lines.
Pick the strongest depot on your line, as they are the one most likely to save your job.