Was the test on assessment day too difficult?

[Ralt]

Hello, I'm wondering whether the test on assessment day was too difficult or not. That was for trainee train planner.

We were given timetable for one day (11 pages total) and were asked to write how many trains and train crew is needed to run all those services for that particular day.

Was that too difficult for trainee position or appropriate? They say you don't need any railway knowledge to do that exercise. How would you solve that task? If there are 5 trains departing each hour then you need 5 trains from A to B and then 5 trains from B to A so train go around. So all together there are 10 trains needed for the day and 20 drivers plus 20 conductors/on board supervisors. Is that correct thinking or not? If not then how else should that task be completed?

 

[Cavan]

Was the timetable just from location a to b or was it a mix i.e c to d too?

 

[Twotwo]

Depends also how long it takes from A to B. Maybe they might be using the same crew to turn back....

 

[heedfan]

No idea how to complete that myself, aside from basic maths knowledge combined with a few hefty assumptions I’d suspect that I’d struggle with it too. Possible that it is deliberately too difficult to see how you react. Hope you get the results you want!

 

[Ralt]

Was the timetable just from location a to b or was it a mix i.e c to d too?

That was the timetable from London King’s Cross (starting station) to some other station (ending station) I can’t remember the name. There were some train services between just 2 stations, like only 5 minuets journey between them (quite strange) so I don’t know how to include a train for that journey. The rest was mostly from King’s Cross to that other station.

Depends also how long it takes from A to B. Maybe they might be using the same crew to turn back....

It was around 1 hour 30 minutes from A to B. So I think the same crew could do that for the duration of their shift. But they say no knowledge of railway industry is needed for that task, so I’m not sure.

No idea how to complete that myself, aside from basic maths knowledge combined with a few hefty assumptions I’d suspect that I’d struggle with it too. Possible that it is deliberately too difficult to see how you react. Hope you get the results you want!

Well, hopefully. What I managed to do is to count how many trains are going from A to B and from B to A that day and that’s all. Now as I have more time to think about I come to new ideas but in 20 minuets they gave us I was confused by these 11 pages full of information and didn’t do well.

 

[Inamberclad]

I can't comment for this role but I did a similar test for a timetabling job (outside of the railway). There was an overwhelming amount of information but at the end of it they said they weren't expecting anyone to get the right answer but wanted to see how people approached the task. Some people just get completely overloaded and don't write anything. As it's a trainee role I imagine they just want to assess your logic and reasoning skills - but don't quote me on it!

 

[Numbnuts846]

Hello, I'm wondering whether the test on assessment day was too difficult or not. That was for trainee train planner.

We were given timetable for one day (11 pages total) and were asked to write how many trains and train crew is needed to run all those services for that particular day.

Was that too difficult for trainee position or appropriate? They say you don't need any railway knowledge to do that exercise. How would you solve that task? If there are 5 trains departing each hour then you need 5 trains from A to B and then 5 trains from B to A so train go around. So all together there are 10 trains needed for the day and 20 drivers plus 20 conductors/on board supervisors. Is that correct thinking or not? If not then how else should that task be completed?

Don't forget a standby crew at each location for when the job goes Pete tong

 

[C.T.P.]

You should also take into consideration the time trains do not move due to signalling issues

 

[306024]

As said above, it is not necessarily the correct answer that they are looking for, but a logical thought process that got you to the answer you gave. If you can’t demonstrate that, perhaps a different career is advisable as that is the basic skill that is needed.

So to work out the number of trains required, start with the first train, link it to a second logical working, and keep going in the same way. Let’s say this is your (simplistic) timetable:

Kings Cross dep 06.00, Cambridge arr 07.00 running every 15 minutes until 23.00
Cambridge dep 06.10, Kings Cross arr 07.10 running every 15 minutes until 23.10

Train A could work:
06.00 KGX - CBG (07.00)
07.10 CBG - KGX (08.10)
08.30 KGX - CBG (09.30)
and so on

There are 10 departures from KGX from 06.00 to 08.15 before train A returns for its next working. So 10 is the answer, you don’t need to go any further. If you chose the 08.10 arrival at KGX to form the 08.15 back (unadvisable) you’ll need 9 trains. If you chose the 07.00 arrival at Cambridge to form the 07.25 back instead (more reliable) you’ll need 11 trains.

How many drivers? A far more difficult question to answer as that depends on shift lengths and meal break rules. A similar logical thought process will get you an answer but you’ll need more than 20 minutes!

Obviously there’s a lot more to it than that but hopefully there is a very basic explanation.

As for the advice to consider delays, sorry that is irrelevant for the purpose of this exercise so ignore it.

 

[Ralt]

As said above, it is not necessarily the correct answer that they are looking for, but a logical thought process that got you to the answer you gave. If you can’t demonstrate that, perhaps a different career is advisable as that is the basic skill that is needed.

So to work out the number of trains required, start with the first train, link it to a second logical working, and keep going in the same way. Let’s say this is your (simplistic) timetable:

Kings Cross dep 06.00, Cambridge arr 07.00 running every 15 minutes until 23.00
Cambridge dep 06.10, Kings Cross arr 07.10 running every 15 minutes until 23.10

Train A could work:
06.00 KGX - CBG (07.00)
07.10 CBG - KGX (08.10)
08.30 KGX - CBG (09.30)
and so on

There are 10 departures from KGX from 06.00 to 08.15 before train A returns for its next working. So 10 is the answer, you don’t need to go any further. If you chose the 08.10 arrival at KGX to form the 08.15 back (unadvisable) you’ll need 9 trains. If you chose the 07.00 arrival at Cambridge to form the 07.25 back instead (more reliable) you’ll need 11 trains.

How many drivers? A far more difficult question to answer as that depends on shift lengths and meal break rules. A similar logical thought process will get you an answer but you’ll need more than 20 minutes!

Obviously there’s a lot more to it than that but hopefully there is a very basic explanation.

As for the advice to consider delays, sorry that is irrelevant for the purpose of this exercise so ignore it.

I’m good with logical reasoning, tutors at college and university told me that and I did well in many tests and writing assignments etc. so I think that sort of job would suit me.

Thank you for your answer, that helped me to understand it better, similar to my thought process.