Northern Rail Job

[chrisdmadd]

Hi all,

this is my first post here so hello from me!

I've been looking over the past year for train driver jobs in the Newcastle area (Heaton Depot ideally) and ive yet to see any trainee driver posts at northern rail. However ive noticed now that there's a vacancy for a Depot driver at Heaton which seems to be a good option for me.

I'm 24 currently and hold a very good job in the electrical maintenance industry but would love the chance to become a driver for any TOC/FOC in the north east. This is a slight pay cut for me but I really wanted to know if anyone knew much about the duties involved in Depot driving (shunting). With Heaton being a relatively small yard (well id say it was but im not sure on the grand scale of things) do you think that driver jobs would be regular? And is this a right step for me... Shunter to Driver?
I nearly applied for a job at a fitter at the depot but I suppose this is one step away from where I want to be.

Any advice on what ive covered would be great.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[HSTfan!!!]

Well depot driver will certainly get you driving trains, albeit in depot confines, I would say it's a good way to become a driver, I've certainly gone for a similiar job not so long ago with the same intentions. Obviously duties will be some driving, shunting round the yard, fuelling etc I would imagine.

 

[anonymous0101]

Well depot driver will certainly get you driving trains, albeit in depot confines, I would say it's a good way to become a driver, I've certainly gone for a similiar job not so long ago with the same intentions. Obviously duties will be some driving, shunting round the yard, fuelling etc I would imagine.

Personally I would wait until a full Trainee drivers job becomes available somewhere.

 

[142094]

Personally I would wait until a full Trainee drivers job becomes available somewhere.

But of course this might not happen for a while. Go for it and see what happens, you'd regret not going for it.

 

[HSTfan!!!]

Personally I would wait until a full Trainee drivers job becomes available somewhere.

might not come up for a while, if you trained up as a depot driver, you're half way there

 

[chrisdmadd]

might not come up for a while, if you trained up as a depot driver, you're half way there

This is it, im almost certain im going to apply for it. Im just worried that ill get stuck on permanant nights and never get to where im aiming for.

Im pretty sure after a few years on the job at the depot id get to gain experience and be head and shoulders above other applicants when the vacancy for driver came up.

Id still be interested to know how many drivers work from Heaton. This would give me an idea of staff turnover and the likelyhood of a job coming up within a year or two.

I must say id be excited by the thought of depot driver but id cetainly not want to do it for more than a few years. Id wanna break out and hit the mainline at some point!

 

[HSTfan!!!]

people are always retiring and moving over to the FOC's/ other TOC's which ever company you go to. At the moment not many companies are advertising for drivers, typically now I'm old enough nothing has come up for me lol! Give it a shot, I would if I were you

 

[Max]

Moved to the jobs and careers section.