rail maintenance

[seana35]

Hi please excuse if this has been asked before i have just signed up to this site in the hope of getting some useful information.
I really want to change my work life round and would like to get a job in rail maintenance. Only thing is i have not got the first clue where to begin looking or what i require apart from that i would need a pts card and that i would more than likely need to be sponsered. I am more than willing to start from the bottom and work my way up and i am not shy of hard work. I just need a helping hand in finding this kind of work or how to get into and would really like a helping bit of advise to point me in the right direction.

Many thanks and again sorry if it has been asked before..

 

[saracen]

So unless you decide to go down the route of working for Network Rail or a main infrastructure like Colas or Balfour Beatty (with both rarely recruiting from the street in the past few years, unless in the form of an apprenticeship) then your best bet is contacting a regional office of a sub-contractor such as McGinley, Coyle, Vital Rail, Cleshar, Morson and many others. You'll be employed through them as self-employed so you'll require a UTR number. There is no escaping that you'll be working lots of nights and pretty much EVERY weekend with no holiday pay or sick pay.

Essentially you'll start at the very bottom as a Trackman and further your development over the years attaining your Lookout, Coss, ES, Crance/Machine Controller competencies and these are where the bigger money is...and from experience the easier jobs, albeit with a lot more responsibilty. Companies will put you through these if they see potential but it is also possible to pay to do them yourself but your manager will deem whether you're ready and experienced enough.

I worked on track for 2 years and became a COSS £12-15 p/h after 9 months, so if you put your mind to it and prove that you can work hard and SAFELY then you can definitely progress.

Hope this helps, all the best.

 

[The Informer]

So unless you decide to go down the route of working for Network Rail or a main infrastructure like Colas or Balfour Beatty (with both rarely recruiting from the street in the past few years, unless in the form of an apprenticeship) then your best bet is contacting a regional office of a sub-contractor such as McGinley, Coyle, Vital Rail, Cleshar, Morson and many others. You'll be employed through them as self-employed so you'll require a UTR number. There is no escaping that you'll be working lots of nights and pretty much EVERY weekend with no holiday pay or sick pay.

Essentially you'll start at the very bottom as a Trackman and further your development over the years attaining your Lookout, Coss, ES, Crance/Machine Controller competencies and these are where the bigger money is...and from experience the easier jobs, albeit with a lot more responsibilty. Companies will put you through these if they see potential but it is also possible to pay to do them yourself but your manager will deem whether you're ready and experienced enough.

I worked on track for 2 years and became a COSS £12-15 p/h after 9 months, so if you put your mind to it and prove that you can work hard and SAFELY then you can definitely progress.

Hope this helps, all the best.

I'll second that!
Try Railwaypeople.com or .co.uk to see which companies are recruiting, most of them just require experienced staff but a telephone call will do no harm sometimes. A full driving licence is a must!!