Great reply thanks a lot. I have my interview tomorrow so was just after an idea of what was involved.
I'm presuming there is a decent amount of night shifts involved?
And a lot of the work is on your feet and communicating rather than moving a train?
Yes mate, lots of nights. Lots on your feet and pulling points but also lots of driving trains.
There are teams of shunters, and they work in their teams round the clock on their varying shifts to co-ordinate every movement of every train that enters and exits the yard. Then they have their specifics such as what I mentioned above (splitting, attaching etc).
Verbal communication is key in the job, and they communicate one to one with drivers (to call trains out/let them in the yard) and with the yard co-ordinators (which are the head of the team) as he has overall responsibility of all sidings and the main communication with the signaller (although you will also speak regularly to the signallers) to give the trains slots (space in the yard).
Sometimes the shunters are run off their feet, which can be during time of disruption, or there are too many trains coming back to the yard at the same time, and sometimes when you’ve seen out or brought in your last train and the next one isn’t due in for a few hours, there’s not much to do, so they set an alarm and have a kip or watch tv/read a book.
You've got to like your own company, and be able to work as part of a collective team. You’ll be working shifts, and as I said before communication is key to the job, as it’s what’s classed as safety critical. Safety is paramount in everything you’ll be doing. If it’s not safe, it doesn’t matter how late anything is or how much it costs to the company, safety comes first. I cannot tell you how important that is.
Good luck!
