How hard is it to get on that lark,how long is the probationary period,the length of the training?
Do they earn a lot of money,and how are the shift patterns?
toby1234abc:
How hard is it to get on that lark,how long is the probationary period,the length of the training?
Do they earn a lot of money,and how are the shift patterns?
The answer to question 1 is just ask at the jobcentre about how many jobs they’ve got and have ever had advertised compared to local multi drop truck driving jobs. 
A tough selection process with lots of psychometric testing and a year of training I believe, they work all shifts but mainly at night when the passenger trains stop running. Money is good, £40k plus.
It is crap, the walk round check takes hours 
Wheel Nut:
It is crap, the walk round check takes hours
What about all the punctures and wheel changes too.
And pushing 1000 tons home when you run out of diesel,sod that.Does the driver get a coal card to bunker with.
toby1234abc:
And pushing 1000 tons home when you run out of diesel,sod that.Does the driver get a coal card to bunker with.
If you run it out of diesel why would you want to put coal in it? 
They get about 1000 apply for each job,application form is about 10 pages if you get picked you go for tests which take all day if you pass you then get an interview,if lucky you get taken on then the training starts between 12 to 18 months.Pays good though up to £45000 for a 35 hour week
A mate of mine does it and he said its nearly easier to train as a fighter pilot, random drug and alcohol tests and very strong union.
Hang on, surely the Stobart Train Drivers get better pay than anyone else■■?
hey ■■■■■,good one,very funny.
The Sarge:
Hang on, surely the Stobart Train Drivers get better pay than anyone else■■?
Lol and the police still have to chalk round about it if the driver is over his hours. I heard from a Stobart train driver that he was tired to the police came out and put cones round his train and shut the WCML for his 9 hours off
my next door neighbour works for ews/schenker. he is on a good screw and loves it. they do overnight stays though but his money is fantastic. takes home 600-700 a week.
The Sarge:
Hang on, surely the Stobart Train Drivers get better pay than anyone else■■?
yeah but they have to T-Cut the train or they are put back on the tesco rdc work
Figured I’d chip in as my dad is a train driver (used to drive C+E aswell years ago before this wtd came into effect).
I can’t tell you exact numbers because I don’t know myself but the pay is certainly better than alot of HGV jobs. For a newbie I’d say you’d be close to, if not clearing 30k. Add all the overtime you’d get on top and you get a reasonable take home each year.
From what I gather the medical is slightly more demanding than our one although I don’t know the details. I do know my Dad was taken off the trains for a while with an illness but passed as far as HGVs were concerned.
If you are colourblind you cannot drive one and IIRC there is a height limit of 6’4 which is why neither myself or my brother could go down that route, myself at 6’8 and my brother being 6’5 aswell as colourblind lol.
The hours are really weird, you could be booked on 2 nights at 23:17 start time, then on day 3 be on 16:05. There are various on call aspects aswell such as frost duty. In the winter if a unit is not running untill the early hours and it is exceptionally cold a driver will be on call to go down and run the engine for a while to keep it ticking over.
A lot of time seems to be spent sitting around at loading/unloading points, no different to container work or a dodgy rdc I guess with it taking up to a couple of hours to load a train with coal. Then you have to wait for the guy in before you to be finished etc. Freight trains are much slower than passanger trains so in the event you’re infront of say the London-Glasgow Virgin train you have to pull into a passing area and wait for him to go by. This is all controlled by people sat at computer screens seeing where every train is and giving instructions to the driver. Routes have to be learned thoroughly in both day and night time aswell as speed limits for different sections of track. You can be doing this over a period of months before you really get to go out on your own.
The upside of course is free rail travel in the UK for yourself, your partner and any children you have under the age of 18. It’s a harder job than people realise. I’d say it’s comparable to driving in that sense because from the outside you think it’s a sweet easy job, then when you get inside you realise there is a hell of alot of ■■■■ to put up with.
I believe that T/N member “brookie” is a full time train driver. Send him a pm, he may be able to help you out.
From my understanding, it is a VERY well paid (£40000+) for not a lot of hours, free rail travel, strong union backing, excellent pension and perks and is a secure a job as you can get now-a-days.
EDIT…Toby, just realised it was you doing the original asking!!! Im sure you would be just the man for the job, dont think there are many running down to Spain or Portugal though!! 
£45,000 for a 35 hour week…I’m in!"
beefy4605:
toby1234abc:
And pushing 1000 tons home when you run out of diesel,sod that.Does the driver get a coal card to bunker with.
If you run it out of diesel why would you want to put coal in it? [/quote
thats why he wants to drive a train rather than risk running out of fuel on the m25 again
And, of course, no risk of an agency driver taking your job!
Here y’go, Toby, check this out…