Railway job V 'Normal' job

[Bodiddly]

I was just listening to a discussion on the radio about the amount of time people spend at work or doing work related things and It got me thinking about my old job. I would regularly do up to 14 hour days and be away from home for periods. I would start early (around 6) and instead of finishing around 3.30 I would still be in the office after 5. I would also have been up in the middle of the night composing the forgotten emails, making sure you send them around 3am for maximum effect! I was totally run off my feet and never had enough hours in the day. A couple of up sides I had were a stunning commute to and from work and a boss who was a real Coffee snob with a proper coffee machine!
The railway is completely different. It is a fantastic career if you value your spare time. You turn up, get a good day's pay for a good day's work and leave (mostly) on time. Good holidays and rest days add to this.
I don't know if this topic has been covered, and please don't think I am rubbing it in, I'm certainly not because I've been there. I would be very interested to hear some vented spleens about how your job takes over your life and how your working day is filled.

 

[nick40uk]

I know the feeling. I was a trucker for 12 years driving up and down the country. Quite often I would be away from home for 3 or 4 nights a week, 13 hour days, long waits at distribution centres, etc.

I gave it up because although the pay was pretty decent and the truck I had was magnificent, you had to work your nuts off to make any decent money. I quite often did 50 or 60 weeks plus nights out just to make ends meet.

Now I work 8 or 9 hours (12 at weekends) and I go home on time, work pattern is predictable (my roster is on a 9 week cycle so I know what I'm doing up until the end of June next year. And the pay is pretty good too.

 

[Searle]

I'm a student, so I have 15 hours of lectures a week, and the rest is spent sleeping. Occasionally I might do an assignment as well

No rants here, sorry!

 

[Greenback]

Ah, my student days were similar!

In my working life, apart from the time I was self employed, I have never had to do unpaid overtime, doing paid overtime was entirely my own choice, and I never took work home with me, once I finished work that was it, switch off time. My shifts were generally OK too.

I don't think those that work 50+ hours a week without proper remuneration are doing themselves any favours, but I suppose it's up to the individual. I had one boss once who was so snowed under she did 12 hour days five days a week and worked on stuff at home too. No thanks, that's not for me!

 

[Bodiddly]

Such an infuriatingly sad sign of the times nowadays. We are constantly told of the pressure our employers are under to simply keep us employed. The fear factors that some bosses will put on their workers are quite real to the them and in my experience that is what kept me at work for so long. I used to get excited when I got a new van or a new laptop, but quickly realised it wasn't mine!
I love my job now and I can choose whether or not to do extra hours which are always paid. I leave my work at the gates to the yard and don't normally think about it until I am at the gates again. I am fortunate to now be in this position. I watch my daughter struggle to balance a full time uni course with part time work and she does amazingly at it. She chooses to work as she is very independent, but her employers are sometimes unreasonable in the demands for her time, split shifts being one of them. And with the use of more and more zero hours contracts on the go, the odds are more and more stacked in the corporations favour.

 

[Clip]

Leaving work at the right time? This concept is foreign to me In fact I really dont have a set start and finish time :cry:

 

[muz379]

Before coming to the railway I was a junior manager working in the retail industry
The job didnt take over my spare time because it wasnt the kind of job where you could really take much work home . But the job didnt give me much quality spare time either .

The 16 hours shifts , the illegally short breaks between shifts ,the 70+ hour weeks ive been there done it all . At the time I thought I wanted to climb the ladder so you have to pretty much do what is expected of you and when other managers at the same level as you are doing all these things you wouldnt want to be the one to refuse . Plus if the shop doesn't open even if it would mean you doing something illegal or against the companies working time policy you would have a lot of questions to answer .
The management above me where also constantly bugging you , there would be times my mobile would be ringing off the hook before I got to work . Or times you would sit down for your break and the phone would go and your whole break is spent on the phone .
I dont know how my store manager dealt with it personally , I was unmarried with no real commitments , he had a wife and kids to deal with outside of work too .
The worst thing for me was the fact that you never got paid for your overtime , you where supposed to get your overtime back as lieu days however there was little point in taking them as youd just come back to a situation that needed you to do another 70 hour week and so the cycle repeats .

On the flip side im much happier now , work my rostered days which I know 12 weeks in advance , have a decent number of rest days with good rest day patterns giving 5 day weekends every 4 weeks . Get paid for any additional days I work which to me is really useful for when you want or need a bit of extra cash. Never see my manager unless Its an assessment or I want something . Actually get paid more for working a 35 hour week than I ever did working a 70 hour week .

 

[scotraildriver]

Have to agree with all of this. Having worked in a retail environment since leaving school the railway (and union support) were a revelation to me. For 16 years I thought that working 60-90 hours a week, getting 5 hours sleep,constant phone calls, no breaks etc etc was "normal" working life. The railway has taught me otherwise, yes getting up at 3am is not pleasant but you are home for lunch, and when you are done you are done. No worries, phone calls or anything else. I would love to send all the messroom moaners out for a day in a retail environment, they should soon realise how good the railway really is as an employer. However, it is not an easy job, its not for everyone but it is certainly a good one if you enjoy it.

 

[W230]

I would love to send all the messroom moaners out for a day in a retail environment, they should soon realise how good the railway really is as an employer. However, it is not an easy job, its not for everyone but it is certainly a good one if you enjoy it.

Couldnt agree more. When i hear the way some of the career railwaymen moan at my depot I think they need a taste of the real life!

 

[muz379]

I would love to send all the messroom moaners out for a day in a retail environment, they should soon realise how good the railway really is as an employer. However, it is not an easy job, its not for everyone but it is certainly a good one if you enjoy it.

+1 to this ,

The hardest part about my job now as a conductor is dealing with passengers . Given that I dealt with customers before when working in retail with all of the poor conditions added to the mix I think I will cope .

 

[Bodiddly]

I've known guy's sacked from the railway for various things and others who have left the industry (myself included) for pastures new. The vast majority of people who join the railway stay for the rest of their working lives. Doesn't this tell you something?

 

[142094]

+1 to this ,

The hardest part about my job now as a conductor is dealing with passengers . Given that I dealt with customers before when working in retail with all of the poor conditions added to the mix I think I will cope .

The good thing is, eventually they get off and you don't have to deal with them anymore. I'd hate to work in a shop and see the same people complaining about the same things over and over again.

 

[muz379]

The good thing is, eventually they get off and you don't have to deal with them anymore. I'd hate to work in a shop and see the same people complaining about the same things over and over again.

yeah we did have a few regulars in the shop who would always try it on . That being said you do see some regulars on the trains trying it on with debit cards they know dont work or allowing themselves to be over carried . But because of the rotation of work you dont see them as often .

 

[142094]

yeah we did have a few regulars in the shop who would always try it on . That being said you do see some regulars on the trains trying it on with debit cards they know dont work or allowing themselves to be over carried . But because of the rotation of work you dont see them as often .

Roster I work means probably only do the same duty 2-3 times per year, so definitely an advantage.

 

[LBSCR Times]

Yes, it's lovely working on the railway....
Leaving home at 5.30am and getting back at 8.15pm, if the train is on time....
Or leaving home at 5.15pm and getting back home hopefully by 8.15am the following morning, Sundays included!
Of course it's only 4 days a week at the most, as I don't work overtime normally, so there is a plus!!

 

[387star]

Used to be a manager on about 7 pound an hour plus commission basically running a store on my own as the place was so short staffed

Then my first job on the railway gave me two days off every five weeks (permanent nights) so not all railway jobs are great however I got paid 19k plus now I'm on around 30k plus with more days off than I actually need! love it would recommend the industry to anybody

I joined this forum around 2010 possibly earlier (?) and I realize how hard it is getting in from my own experience

I failed the conductor concentration test SCATT (too fast) in 2010 for one train company and this depressed me to the extent I did not want to go near the test center ever again! however I picked myself up and passed it.... took my first interview for the role and didn't pass that but passed the second time and loving the job

 

[Deltic Dan]

Yes the railway is great if you have the correct type of job and work for a good company otherwise its CRAP!!would use other words but that's ok for this site

I know lads who leave their house at 4am and back at 8pm at night and getting paid 8hrs for the shift or always working away for no more money.

The railway isn't a job its a life style has on the maintenance side weekends is where you make all your money so not much good if you have a young family

But yes I enjoy it

 

[Bodiddly]

Yes the railway is great if you have the correct type of job and work for a good company otherwise its CRAP!!would use other words but that's ok for this site

I know lads who leave their house at 4am and back at 8pm at night and getting paid 8hrs for the shift or always working away for no more money.

The railway isn't a job its a life style has on the maintenance side weekends is where you make all your money so not much good if you have a young family

But yes I enjoy it

I remember it well. I started on the railway just as privatisation was complete. I was on the books with one of the numerous agencies that spring up when a national industry gets sold off. I worked with loads of guys who had taken early retirement from the BR P-Way and most of our work was re-laying jobs at the weekend. I didn't have a weekend off for at least 2 years as this was the only work I could get. Agency work is difficult as you are pretty much put to the bottom of the list if you had a day off they wanted you to work. I would travel down from Glasgow to just about anywhere on the WCML or ECML north of the border and do long Saturday night/ Sunday morning shifts. I could earn more in that one shift than I did in my entire 40 hour a week job I had previous to that! I was young, daft and had no real ties at the time. I couldn't imagine doing it now!

 

[muz379]

Roster I work means probably only do the same duty 2-3 times per year, so definitely an advantage.

roster I work means I do the same duty at least 3-4 times over the 12 week period . Then there are the spare turns where you can end up on the same turn twice or three times in one week .

Yes, it's lovely working on the railway....
Leaving home at 5.30am and getting back at 8.15pm, if the train is on time....
Or leaving home at 5.15pm and getting back home hopefully by 8.15am the following morning, Sundays included!
Of course it's only 4 days a week at the most, as I don't work overtime normally, so there is a plus!!

What do you do on the railway ?

 

[LBSCR Times]

All I'll say is it is 12 hour shifts.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

That could be a mistake letting people know that.

 

[LBSCR Times]

That could be a mistake letting people know that.

I guessed that when I posted it but it was just to show that there are long hours, including travelling admittedly, on the railway, so everything isn't all rosy!
However, as I've done it for a fair few years, then I must enjoy it!!
And with that, I deleted it!

 

[jim8970]

I would love to get into the railway and one day I will succeed. At the moment I am in retail as non management. I find shifts very easy as previous was a tractor driver and would find many days endless.

 

[Maxfly]

So far the only thing I miss about my old jobs is the 12hr shifts, if you can get them in for your roster, get in there, most definitely the way forward, it's a pity the railway seems to have gone against them in general now

 

[Suraggu]

Joined the railway as soon as I left school and have not looked back since and will be here until I retire.

 

[amateur]

I worked in a library and loved it. I was offered a fixed term contract but turned it down as I didn't like the manager. (Although I never stated this explicitly). I have regretted the decision ever since!

 

[cossie4i]

Joined the railway as soon as I left school and have not looked back since and will be here until I retire.

Same here, started in 87.

 

[red2005]

joined the railway as a guard in 2007 at the age of 27 and my only regret is not joining the industry earlier!

a lot depends on what job you manage to get yourself on the railway I suppose! some jobs which may not be safety critical may have a few more hours with a lil less money than those that ARE safety critical but even those jobs are better than most jobs outside of the industry.

I have come from H.G.V driving to the police to the role of a driver via conductor and no way would I go back to either! if you have ambition you can really push on in the industry! the hard part is getting on in the first place!

when my TOC took on drivers on the intake before mine I heard they had applicants from serving police officers as well as pilots! that tells you how well the industry is thought of in comparison to others!

my advice to you!.......get on board as soon as you can!

 

[W230]

when my TOC took on drivers on the intake before mine I heard they had applicants from serving police officers as well as pilots! that tells you how well the industry is thought of in comparison to others!

Fully agree! Wasted most of a decade in the police before getting in to the driving grade - now all I can think is why didn't I apply earlier!

 

[red2005]

Fully agree! Wasted most of a decade in the police before getting in to the driving grade - now all I can think is why didn't I apply earlier!

you're not alone there mate I know at least 2 former colleagues still serving who are desperate to get out!......I've recommended the railway to them so fingers crossed they will make the best decision of their lives lol