I see people talking about the London Bubble.
What are the good TOC's and bad TOC's in this Bubble?
For routes?, T&C's?, Pay etc etc
From drivers and trainees experiences??
My rough overview of the London market is below (can you tell I’m bored at the moment
?). I have worked for a couple of London TOCs and know people who have worked/work for all of the below. Obviously this is just my impression but it’s a reasonably informed one.
As a trainee any TOC that gives you a key is a good one.
Commuter TOCs in the London area offer pretty good pay these days, but some of the most intense work in the country, and tend to be DOO.
Commuter TOCs in the London area offer pretty good pay these days, but some of the most intense work in the country, and tend to be DOO.
The worst in terms of work will be metro only depots. New Cross Gate (London overground) and Crossrail once it opens would be the worst for me in terms of routes (albeit pay at both is pretty good).
GTR (Southern) at Selhurst, Victoria, London Bridge offer decent work in the higher links, albeit all DOO these days. Lower links are pretty much all metro, and it takes a few years to progress through the links.
Southeastern Victoria offers both DOO and guarded work (but increasingly metro in the lower links). SE’s other London depots are pretty much entirely DOO metro. Pay at Southeastern is well below where it should be.
SWR Waterloo has lots of intense work in the lower links but still has guards (and low pay). Their pay is about to skyrocket but drivers will be taking over responsibility for the doors, so effectively DOO. Lots of drivers have been leaving Waterloo which doesn’t bode well.
Greater Anglia I know less about (depots at Liverpool st?, Stratford?) but also has a large DOO route network. Guarded work to Norwich but how long does it take to get onto that?
Thameslink varies by depot (the depots offering the best “main line” work are outside central London. Kentish Town, Orpington and St Albans probably the worst depots in terms of work content.
Gatwick Express has a depot at Victoria and tends only to take qualifieds. DOO but not stopping much.
I’ve heard good things about the work at Chiltern at Marylebone, pay a little off the pace.
In terms of the “intercity” TOCs, Avanti, LNER and EMR offer long distance work with no DOO metro work at all. Avanti and LNER pay is market leading (£70k), EMR slightly behind (mid £60s including London weighting).
GWR Paddington offers some mainline/guarded work but again it would take years to get there and they do a fair bit of DOO metro in the lower links.
Eurostar offer the highest pay (£85k?) and some of the best Ts and Cs. Albeit they have limited routes, only take qualifieds and there’s a requirement to spend months learning French to the point where you’re fluent.
EDIT: and I forgot to mention Great Northern. Similar Ts and Cs to the other GTR TOCs, routes depend on depot. Depots as Willesden (all metro), Kings Cross(?), Peterborough (?).