What is training like?

[PlexiDriver]

Just curious, what is it like to go through the process of being a trainee driver?

Like in as much detail as possible! Although I imagine every TOC is different

 

[HSTfan!!!]

It's intense, as you say every company can be very different in their approach. By week 7 I'd had a tit full of being away from home all week and being bombarded with rules knowledge.
My company expect you to work your way up and have experience in operations (shunting) already so the classroom part is just over 10 weeks or so. Some companies will train you from scratch as if you haven't a clue, their classroom training may take longer..

 

[king_walnut]

The first 6 months were classroom based learning, which covered the rule book and traction. Some bits were fairly straightforward and some bits were pretty intensive, but overall it was a well structured course and the teaching was good. The hours were nice, usually 9am - 2pm every day, Monday to Friday.

After I finished in the classroom I had to spend 225 hours of driving with a DI (60 in the dark), this took just over 4 months to complete.

Then came route learning. I had to go over each route a minimum of 20 times (there and back counts as 1), that took about a month and a half.

Then the final competency assessment, which took a week and covered literally everything.

 

[UPS1550]

It's intense, as you say every company can be very different in their approach. By week 7 I'd had a tit full of being away from home all week and being bombarded with rules knowledge.
My company expect you to work your way up and have experience in operations (shunting) already so the classroom part is just over 10 weeks or so. Some companies will train you from scratch as if you haven't a clue, their classroom training may take longer..

How much 'maths' is involved in the training? Stuff like trigonometry & stopping distances etc

 

[lammergeier]

How much 'maths' is involved in the training? Stuff like trigonometry & stopping distances etc

None that I can remember.

 

[TW3M]

Very good journal here about the training course by onelowban

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/journey-greater-anglia-trainee-driver.172214/

 

[hooverboy]

How much 'maths' is involved in the training? Stuff like trigonometry & stopping distances etc

I would have thought for most driving roles the maths wouldn't be too bad.In most cases a basic knowledge rather than doing the calculations would suffice

linked in with some physics, you'd get an explanation of resultant forces, rolling resistance,how wheelsets can run round corners(rotational velocity).

You would encounter some trigonometry if you had to work out the forces on the tarck at that particular point.(network rail)

for drivers, the first encounter with trigonometry would be if you had to learn the nuts and bolts of electric traction,and with bi/dual-modes appearing you'd get to grips with this in AC/DC convertors,inverters,AC traction motors and the like.

 

[SlimJim1694]

I'm not sure what any of the above reference to maths is about. There is no maths whatsoever involved in train driving. You might need to know air pressures and voltages/amps etc but theres no maths. Braking the train is simply a case of learning where to put it in, how much to put in and to adjust according to conditions.

 

[Stigy]

How much 'maths' is involved in the training? Stuff like trigonometry & stopping distances etc

None. Thank God

 

[UPS1550]

I'm not sure what any of the above reference to maths is about. There is no maths whatsoever involved in train driving. You might need to know air pressures and voltages/amps etc but theres no maths. Braking the train is simply a case of learning where to put it in, how much to put in and to adjust according to conditions.

That's what I was getting at as well, pressures / volumes for break power etc

 

[UPS1550]

None. Thank God

Seconded if ever get the chance lol

 

[ComUtoR]

My TOC now has the apprentiship so Maths, English and ICT are required.

 

[387star]

On day one after the corporate induction we went to Bedford from Three Bridges where we were told the trainer would be waiting . Turned out he was at Brighton so we went all the way there. He was in a very bad mood when we were arrived and warned us that it is very easy to be kicked off a course and people can and do fail at every stage. However he turned out to be a very good trainer.

We spent just before Christmas till March doing the Rules... intro course first with exams every week then a final exam followed by the more intense rules course with a 120 question exam at the end. We were there all day and bought take away pizza to the classroom.

One week break

Traction. Started with core traction which we looked at for five weeks. Then conversion which lasted another four weeks or so. April till June was focussed on traction which included driving each type of train with an Instructor and a theory/practical exam. We had to wait to get all 8 in the course done and front ended when we weren't required. Front ended at various points during training with task books to complete.

In midJune we had an intro to route learning course followed by more front ending with task books then a short exam.

After that we got DIS. Some got them immediately but I waited four weeks with, you guessed it, more front ending.

I was with a DI for around 8 months or so.
Involved amounting 250 hours including minimum darkness hours with all routes needing to be signed off including diversions. We had no booked work over some diversions so I took two weeks off front ending on southern services. I had to take another week with my DI to drive enough Sutton services as we had very few Sutton jobs at Brighton depot. We were released for a further week for Depot walkarounds (Selhurst, Lovers Walk, Cricklewood, Bedford plus Gatwick Sidings and Luton/Redhill shunts) I was based at Three Bridges but my DI was at Brighton. This was annoying as I house shared in Three Bridges but once training started we were told it would be Brighton but eventually they paid us travel time.

My hours at first went up very quickly but as a new clasd of train entered service my DI had to drive as I hadn't been on the course. In late Jan the following year now almost 14 months into training I was released for a two week traction course on the new trains and route learning the then new Three Bridges Depot. They called me a week after expecting me to sit my final but I declined as I wanted to drive the new train with my DI first . I had driven it during the course but very little. I also still required to attend a route risk course. I had received a letter to go on one but they were unaware I hadn't been on it. That course was in late Feb and included a SIM day. The SIM was in Hornsey. There was one in Three Bridges but Siemens didn't allow us to use it.

In mid March I was given a second final exam date which I accepted. The exam was in April and took about two weeks driving all routes and for the diversionaries watching videos and answering questions

I had to sign off 319,377,387,700 traction
I learnt Bedford to Brighton via Streatham and Crystal Palace and via Tulse Hill and Herne Hill, Brighton to London Bridge, Sutton loop, Selhurst and Norwood Junction to Sutton via West Croydon and Tulse Hill to London Bridge via Peckham

Learnt Lovers Walk, Selhurst, Bedford sidings, Gatwick sidings, Preston Park sidings, Three Bridges Depot, Smithfield Sidings, St Albans siding, Bedford north siding etc

I was the first in my group to pass and took me 16-17 months

 

[PlexiDriver]

Thank you for all your experiences I'm so keen to get more info! Haha

 

[43066]

My TOC now has the apprentiship so Maths, English and ICT are required.

Pretty sure you don’t have to do that if you already have equivalent, or better, academic qualifications.

 

[Heaps92]

I started off as a pilot driver 5 week in classroom 40 hours train handling in depots
Then progressed to trainee mainline which was another 5 week in classroom 150 hours train handling then 10 days in simulator

 

[ComUtoR]

Pretty sure you don’t have to do that if you already have equivalent, or better, academic qualifications.

Correct. If you have the qualifications then it's ok. You need to prove it and they will absolutely check. Otherwise you need to sit 'Functional Skills'

It's frustrating that apprenticeships are creeping in and there was an application posted on this forum a few months back that stated Maths and English were required

 

[Stigy]

Correct. If you have the qualifications then it's ok. You need to prove it and they will absolutely check. Otherwise you need to sit 'Functional Skills'

It's frustrating that apprenticeships are creeping in and there was an application posted on this forum a few months back that stated Maths and English were required

Maths and English GCSEs are a term of a modern apprenticeship, but as you say, you can take a functional skills test to be accepted on one which is the equivalent of a GCSE. Some companies will put you through these, I know NWR do with signallers.

 

[craigybagel]

My own TOC does it quite differently from many others.

After 2 days of company induction, it's on to 12 weeks of classroom based training. This covers PTS, rules, train handling in the sim and for real on a depot, and learning your core traction. There are various assesments to do during this process, and a large amount of computer work to do at home, but you don't sit your official rules as such during this period.
At the end of this period you get to drive the training train, your first time driving on the mainline. Normally the rest of that week is spent on depot induction and front end turns.
You're then sent for traction training, to learn all the tractions that you'll sign other then the core traction you've already learnt, which is depot dependent. In my case I had to sign 3 other tractions on top of my core, which took 3 weeks.
Depending on availability of staff and training space, you'll be rostered a week of annual leave at some point either before or after your traction training.
After that it's manual handling with a DI. 265 hours at my TOC, of which 40 must be in darkness. During this process you also learn your core route(s) as you go along. My depot has a very intensive roster so those hours can be attained in 5 months or less even, but at most depots it takes longer.
Once this is complete and your Manager is available, you do your pass out week - during which time you have to drive over all of your core routes, complete a prep, and couple and uncouple units. At my depot, it takes 1½ days to do the practical side, and for the rest of the week you're examined on your rules and also your route knowledge in more detail then what will have come up during the practical drive. Pass all that and you get your golden handshake and off you go as a qualified driver. All that's left is to sign the rest of your route card, which you'll be sent off to do in stages over the following months.

On average at my depot it's between 8 and 9 months from induction to passing out qualified.

 

[Lee0901]

My own TOC does it quite differently from many others.

After 2 days of company induction, it's on to 12 weeks of classroom based training. This covers PTS, rules, train handling in the sim and for real on a depot, and learning your core traction. There are various assesments to do during this process, and a large amount of computer work to do at home, but you don't sit your official rules as such during this period.
At the end of this period you get to drive the training train, your first time driving on the mainline. Normally the rest of that week is spent on depot induction and front end turns.
You're then sent for traction training, to learn all the tractions that you'll sign other then the core traction you've already learnt, which is depot dependent. In my case I had to sign 3 other tractions on top of my core, which took 3 weeks.
Depending on availability of staff and training space, you'll be rostered a week of annual leave at some point either before or after your traction training.
After that it's manual handling with a DI. 265 hours at my TOC, of which 40 must be in darkness. During this process you also learn your core route(s) as you go along. My depot has a very intensive roster so those hours can be attained in 5 months or less even, but at most depots it takes longer.
Once this is complete and your Manager is available, you do your pass out week - during which time you have to drive over all of your core routes, complete a prep, and couple and uncouple units. At my depot, it takes 1½ days to do the practical side, and for the rest of the week you're examined on your rules and also your route knowledge in more detail then what will have come up during the practical drive. Pass all that and you get your golden handshake and off you go as a qualified driver. All that's left is to sign the rest of your route card, which you'll be sent off to do in stages over the following months.

On average at my depot it's between 8 and 9 months from induction to passing out qualified.

What station are you at?

 

[ZombieLaydee]

Maths and English GCSEs are a term of a modern apprenticeship, but as you say, you can take a functional skills test to be accepted on one which is the equivalent of a GCSE. Some companies will put you through these, I know NWR do with signallers.

Depends on the apprenticeship. Some make you do it anyway. I did the NR apprenticeship and they require you to do the qualifications again even if they are literally indentical. With a driver apprenticeship they might have to put you through literacy and numeracy to get funding. It would be incredibly basic if so and nothing to worry about. I dont think theres ever a requirement to get a set grade, just that they teach you it.