Not over thinking it I just need to know which patterens are used in the rail industry
This is your first error. As others have pointed out you need to stop thinking about it in terms of "the rail industry" Each TOC and depot works its own bespoke system. Rostering is very complex. Basically there is a system of caveats that need to apply.
X number of days per week as RD (either averaged or fixed)
Maximum turn length
Minimum turn length
Minimum time between book off > Book on
Minimum time between shifts (Hidden 18)
Number of lines per link
Depot establishment
Number of diagrammed turns
% spare turns/cover turns
Probably others I haven't listed and probably different across the network/TOC/Depots.
My roster
does not have a pattern. Other than 1 week early / 1 week late alternating. I think that is another misperception. Not everyone works to a fixed RD pattern.
as if they bring Sunday's inside that would make it 2 weekends out of 3 you would work...well apart from a Sunday which is basically a day to adjust from lates to earlier on the Monday morning ...
Not in the least. We have Sunday's inside but I do not work 2/3 Sundays. I have many weekends off and again, don't work 2/3 weekends whatsoever. At my depot/TOC it just isn't gonna happen.
My roster has 13 Sundays in 52 lines (1/4) They are
not evenly distributed and there is even a block where I have 8 Sundays off in a row
2 kids at school so working 2 oot of three weekends isn't that great,no much of a drinker but I like the weekends to spend with the kids
Please don't be negative and please break those preconceptions. You appear to be looking for the problems and look to be determined to use Sundays as an excuse.
If your working a 4 day week and 2 of those were predominately weekends then your only working 2 days during the week. That's 3 days you can do a school run, attend school events, parents evening etc and during school holidays you get 3 days with them. The Monday to Friday folks only have the weekend for the kids. In some respects since joining the railway I have had much more time with them.
Don't get me wrong, shift work can be a killer and it can gimp both your social life and family life. It has been proven to take years off your life and is a high cause of divorce.
You need to take the benefits where you can and the 4 day week can be a huge benefit. There are advantages that it beings and many of us take the rough with the smooth.
You need to remember that the kids will not always be at school and, as I'm finding now, they get to an age where they are off out with their friends. In a few years they will be off to college, then uni, then work etc. No doubt you know already but kids are resilient little buggers. I think I have benefited from them being so young as they are growing up understanding that I'm a shift worker rather than a sudden shift from me being there to not being available.
I think the high wage compensates for the shifts and lots of shift work is higher paid because it can be so detrimental. The 4 day/35hr week is just at a point where it is manageable but still very productive.
Look at the rosters and shifts at your chosen TOC and depot to get a more specific insight. You would be surprised how much it varies between TOC's.
