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Why do you want to become a train driver?
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RailUK Forums
everything,,,,
90019
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Urban Gateline
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I don't.
I second that!
I'd rather be a Guard, for the ticket selling, dispatch duties and customer interaction!
ANorthernGuard
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Temple Meads
Established Member
There's a niggling ambition there for me, and it'd be for a few reasons:
Enthusiasm about the trains.
The money being decent.
The feeling of doing an important job.
The free travel pass
Enthusiasm about the trains.
The money being decent.
The feeling of doing an important job.
The free travel pass
Because I enjoy getting up at 0230 (for a 0400 start), working until 0130 when on lates, working weekends/ bank holidays for no extra pay, getting verbal abuse off the passengers when things go wrong (the guards get more than us though), the annual "why are there no trains on Xmas day because I want to go shopping/ visit my 99 year old Gran" threads, the fact everyone knows my job better than me even though they have never done it.
I could go on but you get the idea, oh by the way I love my job and wouldnt swap it for the world!
I could go on but you get the idea, oh by the way I love my job and wouldnt swap it for the world!
ChrisTheRef
Established Member
Because I enjoy getting up at 0230 (for a 0400 start), working until 0130 when on lates, working weekends/ bank holidays for no extra pay, getting verbal abuse off the passengers when things go wrong (the guards get more than us though), the annual "why are there no trains on Xmas day because I want to go shopping/ visit my 99 year old Gran" threads, the fact everyone knows my job better than me even though they have never done it.
I could go on but you get the idea, oh by the way I love my job and wouldnt swap it for the world!
I'll have it. You work in the booking office.
Urban Gateline
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Beveridges
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Because it pays a lot more than depot driving and isn't permanent graveyard shift
So I can tell Revenue Staff to 'Do one' when they ask for my authority to travel. Oh sorry, wrong forum...
Nope
Or on the Gateline!
And nope.
I am quite happy to carry on, thanks for the offer though!
One of the best bits is listening to some of our more egotistic drivers go on about how important they are! :roll:
Always makes me laugh, a driver is no more important than a lot of other grades, end of.
driver9000
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I love the railways and always wanted to be a train driver. I'm not here for the money which although it is nice there is more to life than £s. I'm here because I want to drive trains and I'm proud to be a Driver. I consider myself lucky to have been given the job that was my childhood ambition and even more so that I managed to earn my keys at a relatively young age. I may 'only' be a unit man driving the suburban or out in the sticks but I love my job and wouldn't change it for the world
I enjoy the shift work, I work with a great bunch of people and I get paid to do a job I grew up itching to do. One of the definite perks for me is a summers morning at dawn watching the sun come up and having the best view of it all from the windows of my mobile office.
I enjoy the shift work, I work with a great bunch of people and I get paid to do a job I grew up itching to do. One of the definite perks for me is a summers morning at dawn watching the sun come up and having the best view of it all from the windows of my mobile office.
scotsman
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I haven't wanted to be a Train Driver since I was about 13, my ideal job would see me doing a 9-5 "desk job" as a TOC press officer - combining my love of railways with journalism (and, if I'm lucky, photojournalism)
In my spare time, I'd like to pass out as a Diesel Driver at the Strathspey Railway - it could be a while off, I still need to do a lot to pass the Guarding course!
In my spare time, I'd like to pass out as a Diesel Driver at the Strathspey Railway - it could be a while off, I still need to do a lot to pass the Guarding course!
Nope
And nope.
I am quite happy to carry on, thanks for the offer though!
One of the best bits is listening to some of our more egotistic drivers go on about how important they are! :roll:
Always makes me laugh, a driver is no more important than a lot of other grades, end of.
And how long you been driving? :roll::roll::roll:
That sort of answer will not get you through an interview
NathanPrior
Member
I actually know how to do it, too much playing on Railworks, BVE and Microsoft Train Simulator imo. I think I actually wouldn't take as much training to get there as others would. Also, I think it was only me, the train manager and driver on the 09:55 STP to Sheffield service (14/01) that knew about the signal failure outside the Market Harborough area before anything was announced, ground to a halt and I had the thought "that couldn't be a red signal as the other train was about 15-20mins ahead" and I was right.
I think the above also points to playing too much Railworks too
I think the above also points to playing too much Railworks too
90019
Established Member
I wouldn't put that in an application.
ralphchadkirk
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Credibility = lost.
driver9000
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I think you would be in for quite a surprise. Sorry to burst your bubble but playing a computer game is nothing like the real thing :roll:
Surely the "signal failure" was a red signal? Every signalling failure I've had has always seen my train brought to a stand at a red signal...
There is more to this job than pulling levers and for what its worth, no amount of Railworks game time is going to reduce the number of hours required in the seat to pass out as a Driver (not to mention the rules,traction and routes exams). I'm not trying to have a go at you but your post is a very naive thing to write.
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what you've basically said is the same as "I can fly a plane on Microsoft plane simulator, therefore I can fly planes."
Lots of points or required skills attract me to do this job. I have wanted to be a driver since I was 5/6! (yep it all started with Thomas the tank!) However I did take up another career in the airline as cabin crew. With the airline industry loosing all its glamour, being worked hard for very little I'm considering about leaving it for another industry. I like the travel and tourism industry as a whole, so I would like to move onto the railways as my second choice. As a driver I like the professionalism, responsibility and lifestyle they have. I say lifestyle because they work shift work and public holidays. Excluding christmas and boxing day. So its a little bit better than what I do now. I have done long haul and short haul as crew. I now work as single crew (on a small aircraft) which I enjoy doing. Which means I work on my own. In addition to that, the job outline is very similar to what I do now. Both have A LOT safety procedures that have to be followed, rendering both jobs safety critical. What makes them separate, in one role you drive the train, the other is spent serving teas and coffees with passenger interaction which make them different. For me, I would be learning a new skill. Driving trains. On top of that I actually want to do a job that I enjoy doing, so the money isn't really the attraction for me wanting to be a driver. Guard sounds like a good job too. (none-commercial) This isn't an application answer by the way, just a reply to the question in regards to this topic. (presuming the topic was an open question, rather than looking for application ideas?)
Lots of points or required skills attract me to do this job. I have wanted to be a driver since I was 5/6! (yep it all started with Thomas the tank!) However I did take up another career in the airline as cabin crew. With the airline industry loosing all its glamour, being worked hard for very little I'm considering about leaving it for another industry. I like the travel and tourism industry as a whole, so I would like to move onto the railways as my second choice. As a driver I like the professionalism, responsibility and lifestyle they have. I say lifestyle because they work shift work and public holidays. Excluding christmas and boxing day. So its a little bit better than what I do now. I have done long haul and short haul as crew. I now work as single crew (on a small aircraft) which I enjoy doing. Which means I work on my own. In addition to that, the job outline is very similar to what I do now. Both have A LOT safety procedures that have to be followed, rendering both jobs safety critical. What makes them separate, in one role you drive the train, the other is spent serving teas and coffees with passenger interaction which make them different. For me, I would be learning a new skill. Driving trains. On top of that I actually want to do a job that I enjoy doing, so the money isn't really the attraction for me wanting to be a driver. Guard sounds like a good job too. (none-commercial) This isn't an application answer by the way, just a reply to the question in regards to this topic. (presuming the topic was an open question, rather than looking for application ideas?)
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Are you actually serious or are you just trolling us all?
Railworks giving you enough skills to be able to pass out as a driver? Please.... You're either very young or very, very naive (or both).
No amount of sitting in a cosy room playing a computer game will prepare you for the real world!
Railworks gives you the same conditions, scenarios ect. In the real world with real trains on real track with real passengers there's a lot that can (and will) happen, which a computer won't prepare you for.
What credibility?
I've played RW3 and have to say that it seems to me to be nothing like what driving a real train would be like. Similarly I've played various version of MS Flight Simulator yet I wouldn't fancy taking the left seat on a 747!
I think perhaps the clue is in the genre it's called a 'simulation' for a reason. That reason being that it isn't the real thing.
Beveridges
Established Member
Simulation = cheaper, simpler and more boring version of the real thing, as I've found with all simulators, rail related or not
Beveridges
Established Member
You would do the exact same course everyone else would, maybe you'd find some things easier, but you'd still take the same amount of time
notadriver
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I turned up in jeans to my interview. I told them I wouldnt need as much training as I spent all my time playing on simulators and did lots of trains spotting in my spare time. I didn't get the job. Maybe I should try a different approach next time
I turned up in jeans to my interview. I told them I wouldnt need as much training as I spent all my time playing on simulators and did lots of trains spotting in my spare time. I didn't get the job. Maybe I should try a different approach next time
Ha!........
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