Avanti - Qualified Drivers - Liverpool & Wolves (28/07/23)

[Harold]

Evening folks

Qualified Train Drivers wanted for both Wolverhampton and Liverpool depots.

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Closing date of the 12/8/2023.

Best of luck for those applying.

Harold

 

[UniAnchor]

Hi, just a speculative message...does anybody know if Avanti is looking to recruit qualifieds anytime soon at Euston?

Thanks in advance

 

[anglian96]

Hi, just a speculative message...does anybody know if Avanti is looking to recruit qualifieds anytime soon at Euston?

Thanks in advance

They just had a recruitment drive for qualified last month

 

[UniAnchor]

They just had a recruitment drive for qualified last month

Must've missed that one. I saw trainee's at euston going last month but not qualified. Thanks for reply

 

[Firedriver]

Can any kind soul share a roster for Liverpool?

 

[irish_rail]

Can any kind soul share a roster for Liverpool?

Can't help I'm afraid but route wise I'd guess London , followed by London , followed by London (think the North Wales work is due to transfer to Crewe depot). Still will probably get loads of applicants from TPE and Northern! And I'm sure Pendolinos are decent to drive.

 

[Economist]

The quality of work looks fairly decent, guarded high-speed passenger work and from my understanding the Pendolino cab is one of the best from the driver's perspective.

However I believe the base roster is tough, a series of five day weeks followed by a week of rest days. I don't know if there is a RDW agreement in place at the moment (the one week RDW bans excepted), if there isn't it should be easier to get rid of Sundays.

Big movement off of spare I believe too and the first and last day of one's rest day week can be moved too IIRC. Long salary progression to full pay. No more Christmas hampers and parties at Beardy's gaff now First Group are in charge.

Personally, I'm quite happy at the other ex-red TOC where I can get a four-day week and quicker progression to full rate but nonetheless Avanti bears DOO by a long shot.

Happy to be corrected on any of the above.

 

[Robcuk]

The quality of work looks fairly decent, guarded high-speed passenger work and from my understanding the Pendolino cab is one of the best from the driver's perspective.

However I believe the base roster is tough, a series of five day weeks followed by a week of rest days. I don't know if there is a RDW agreement in place at the moment (the one week RDW bans excepted), if there isn't it should be easier to get rid of Sundays.

Big movement off of spare I believe too and the first and last day of one's rest day week can be moved too IIRC. Long salary progression to full pay. No more Christmas hampers and parties at Beardy's gaff now First Group are in charge.

Personally, I'm quite happy at the other ex-red TOC where I can get a four-day week and quicker progression to full rate but nonetheless Avanti bears DOO by a long shot.

Happy to be corrected on any of the above.

Are nights quite regular on LNER? I had some contact with an employee just before COVID and I seem to remember nights being every 4-5 weeks?

 

[irish_rail]

Are nights quite regular on LNER? I had some contact with an employee just before COVID and I seem to remember nights being every 4-5 weeks?

I'd imagine depots like Liverpool will have quite a lot of night work to and from the depot , similarly Manchester and Glasgow and Wolves. Preston must be best depot in terms of fewer nights id guess?

 

[Economist]

Are nights quite regular on LNER? I had some contact with an employee just before COVID and I seem to remember nights being every 4-5 weeks?

I don't work there, I suppose thinking about it there are three ex-Virgin TOCs, I'm at the all-diesel one.

That said, I hear Kings Cross have a week of nights every four or five weeks due to a lot of heavy maintenance at Bounds Green. Can't say I'm sure about the others.

 

[tiptoptaff]

I'd imagine depots like Liverpool will have quite a lot of night work to and from the depot , similarly Manchester and Glasgow and Wolves. Preston must be best depot in terms of fewer nights id guess?

I'd imagine Wolves have a lot, as they sign Oxley and Central Rivers.

Liverpool I guess depends on how many sets stable on Edge Hill?

 

[PNutt]

Anyone give an insight to what it’s currently like to work for Avanti as a driver?

 

[EZJ]

Anyone give an insight to what it’s currently like to work for Avanti as a driver?

I don't work there myself but know a few who do and it's a 50/50 split as to how they like it. Some really don't like the link pattern, shift movements and the fact most decent T&C's have been sold away whilst the other couple very much enjoy the "Pendolino Experience". All of them however say it's not been a wonderful place to work since First Group came in and everything that comes with that.

 

[Lenny_1986]

Do these advertisements usually close early once they get an influx of applicants like the trainee positions?

 

[PNutt]

I don't work there myself but know a few who do and it's a 50/50 split as to how they like it. Some really don't like the link pattern, shift movements and the fact most decent T&C's have been sold away whilst the other couple very much enjoy the "Pendolino Experience". All of them however say it's not been a wonderful place to work since First Group came in and everything that comes with

Yeah, I haven’t heard great things since First took over.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Zontar]

Any news on the Crewe depot?

 

[TBCTBA]

I don't work there myself but know a few who do and it's a 50/50 split as to how they like it. Some really don't like the link pattern, shift movements and the fact most decent T&C's have been sold away whilst the other couple very much enjoy the "Pendolino Experience". All of them however say it's not been a wonderful place to work since First Group came in and everything that comes with that.

On this point, I've heard it mentioned a few times that the movement on shifts isn't the greatest at Avanti; does anyone know the specifics?

 

[Robcuk]

On this point, I've heard it mentioned a few times that the movement on shifts isn't the greatest at Avanti; does anyone know the specifics?

A friend works for them - I spoke to him a few weeks back he'd been moved from 16:00 to nights

 

[irish_rail]

A friend works for them - I spoke to him a few weeks back he'd been moved from 16:00 to nights

Wow. And yet they will get 100 applicants all wanting to drive fast trains to London! Its such a shame the novelty soon wears off.

 

[TBCTBA]

A friend works for them - I spoke to him a few weeks back he'd been moved from 16:00 to nights

Oh really? That does sound a bit rough!

 

[whoosh]

I've seen the roster for Euston. Well, one of the links anyway.
There were 39 weeks. 6 weeks were weeks of rest days. Of the remaining 33 weeks, 9 were "weekly spare" where you have unlimited movement off of your datum time (hence the 16:00 spare to nights mentioned above).

[So that's more than one in four of the weeks at work, as weekly spare with unlimited movement!]

There were a further number (mostly four for each day scattered around) of "daily spare" which had +/-3 hours movement from the datum spare book on time.

Sundays only had daily spare.

I believe there are more 5 day weeks and therefore more weeks of rest days at other depots in comparison to Euston.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Aug 2023 ==

On this point, I've heard it mentioned a few times that the movement on shifts isn't the greatest at Avanti; does anyone know the specifics?

 

[UTV]

I’ve debated putting in for Wolverhampton so many times. I hear good and bad. Does anyone have any in depth knowledge of the wolves depot and its workings. Feel free to PM if needed. The other downside is the commute, it’s 55 mins for me on a good day up the M6. Currently 25 mins for my depot I work at now.

 

[Zontar]

I’ve debated putting in for Wolverhampton so many times. I hear good and bad. Does anyone have any in depth knowledge of the wolves depot and its workings. Feel free to PM if needed. The other downside is the commute, it’s 55 mins for me on a good day up the M6. Currently 25 mins for my depot I work at now.

I have the exact same dilemma for Liverpool mate

 

[Robcuk]

I’ve debated putting in for Wolverhampton so many times. I hear good and bad. Does anyone have any in depth knowledge of the wolves depot and its workings. Feel free to PM if needed. The other downside is the commute, it’s 55 mins for me on a good day up the M6. Currently 25 mins for my depot I work at now.

So an hour a day X 16 shifts that's 2 rest days a month would you be anywhere near the Avanti salary with that? I don't think I could cope with those weeks where you could get moved anywhere although the week of rest days sounds ok.

 

[Lenny_1986]

Does anyone know what the parking situation is like at Liverpool Lime Street? Do they have staff parking or is it just park in the City where possible

 

[Economist]

I’ve debated putting in for Wolverhampton so many times. I hear good and bad. Does anyone have any in depth knowledge of the wolves depot and its workings. Feel free to PM if needed. The other downside is the commute, it’s 55 mins for me on a good day up the M6. Currently 25 mins for my depot I work at now.

I have the exact same dilemma for Liverpool mate

You need to start with what you have/don't have at your current TOC and take it from there. I was at a TOC which involved DOO commuter services into London, with very poor T&Cs (including salary) in an area which has a high cost of living. I'm now at a TOC with train managers who deal with the passengers and dispatch decisions, driving at higher speeds, stopping less often and getting better T&Cs (including salary) in a cheaper part of the country. There are one or two things I miss but my job doesn't feel like a chore, whereas DOO did.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Money isn't everything - Ts and Cs and overall quality of life are far more important than money. And when the novelty wares off, it's still just driving a train

 

[irish_rail]

Money isn't everything - Ts and Cs and overall quality of life are far more important than money. And when the novelty wares off, it's still just driving a train

Spot on. With the terrible Ts and Cs on Avanti, the attraction of driving a fast train to London day after day after day really isn't so great. Especially if Liverpool lose the North Wales stuff, doing only one route must be just as dull as inner suburban driving. However it may well suit someone who is very flexible , and maybe hasn't got family commitments who is happy to be moved about alot shift wise. The pendolino cab does look awesome also from the very limited 10 seconds I saw of it once! Good luck to anyone that does fancy it. For me, if I ever moved to the north, I'd be more attracted to Merseyrail , but don't think they ever take on qualifieds???

 

[tiptoptaff]

Spot on. With the terrible Ts and Cs on Avanti, the attraction of driving a fast train to London day after day after day really isn't so great. Especially if Liverpool lose the North Wales stuff, doing only one route must be just as dull as inner suburban driving. However it may well suit someone who is very flexible , and maybe hasn't got family commitments who is happy to be moved about alot shift wise. The pendolino cab does look awesome also from the very limited 10 seconds I saw of it once! Good luck to anyone that does fancy it. For me, if I ever moved to the north, I'd be more attracted to Merseyrail , but don't think they ever take on qualifieds???

They'll get loads apply, though. Too many of our grade see the £££ and what comes with it. IT'll be dull as anything after the novelt wares away, no matter how nice the cab is! Preston as a depot somewhat interests me, having the entire WCML as route knowledge. But still basically just the one route

AIUI, Mersyrail don't take other TOC's qualifieds and other TOCs don't take on theirs. An old BR agreement, apparantly.

 

[irish_rail]

They'll get loads apply, though. Too many of our grade see the £££ and what comes with it. IT'll be dull as anything after the novelt wares away, no matter how nice the cab is! Preston as a depot somewhat interests me, having the entire WCML as route knowledge. But still basically just the one route

AIUI, Mersyrail don't take other TOC's qualifieds and other TOCs don't take on theirs. An old BR agreement, apparantly.

Agree, Preston is the only WCML depot that would be attractive to a GWR driver. I remember the first time I drove a fast train to London, it was great. That lasted for about a week before I got bored of the monotomy! But as you say, they will get 100s applying, and good luck to them.