Merseyrail - Guard to Driver

[Manda2194]

Hello everyone.

I was hoping some Merseyrail employees can help me here.

I have been offered the role of train manager with Merseyrail. Long term I want to be a driver and I understand the only way to be a driver on Merseyrail is to be a guard first. I was wondering of anyone can give me an idea of how long it takes to progress from a guard to a driver.

Thanks!

 

[DM1994]

Hello everyone.

I was hoping some Merseyrail employees can help me here.

I have been offered the role of train manager with Merseyrail. Long term I want to be a driver and I understand the only way to be a driver on Merseyrail is to be a guard first. I was wondering of anyone can give me an idea of how long it takes to progress from a guard to a driver.

Thanks!

Used to be 2 years as a guard, then more recently they keep lowering it, last I heard it was a year.

 

[Manda2194]

Used to be 2 years as a guard, then more recently they keep lowering it, last I heard it was a year.

Is it an official or is there a waiting list for it. So a guard who has been there for 3 years is higher on the waiting list than someone who has been their for one year.

Someone once told me merseyrail have a high turnover of drivers but i am not sure how true that is

 

[OnlyM]

See inbox.

 

[jamesst]

Is it an official or is there a waiting list for it. So a guard who has been there for 3 years is higher on the waiting list than someone who has been their for one year.

Someone once told me merseyrail have a high turnover of drivers but i am not sure how true that is

Every so often they will send current guards for an assessment day. As long as you meet the criteria (been a guard for a minimal set time, no live disciplines etc) you can apply.
Some guards have gone to driving after a couple of years, some after literally years, there's no waiting list at this point.

Once you pass the assessment day you will be sent for the OPC assessments and then put in a pool to wait for the next driving school. As long as there's a pool waiting any future driving schools will consist solely of these. Once the pool has been emptied the whole assessment day process will start again.

There has been a quite high turnover of drivers recently, this is purely down to a number of drivers reaching retirement age at the same time, leaving through long term sickness, a few leaving to other tocs etc.
Normally however driver retention is actually pretty stable.

 

[357]

What's the current salary for a Merseyrail driver ?