Northern - Trainee Train Driver - Recruitment Discussion

[Manda2194]

1. Team based task (4 or 5 people per team)

2. Lego + train video combination

[Get rid of some candidates]

3. Watch a 28 min train video and write down how many green/red/amber signals and speed changes.

[Get rid of some more candidates]

Lunch break

4. Interview with a manager and another person. Talk in general about yourself then get asked 2 questions which they show you on paper the 2 questions they will ask and let you decide which one you want to answer first.

Don't have to wear a full suit but I would say shirt and tie.

Good luck

1. Team based task (4 or 5 people per team)

2. Lego + train video combination

[Get rid of some candidates]

3. Watch a 28 min train video and write down how many green/red/amber signals and speed changes.

[Get rid of some more candidates]

Lunch break

4. Interview with a manager and another person. Talk in general about yourself then get asked 2 questions which they show you on paper the 2 questions they will ask and let you decide which one you want to answer first.

Don't have to wear a full suit but I would say shirt and tie.

Good luck

This Lego/train thing sounds interesting. Can you tell me a bit more about it. The intricacies of the recruitment process always interest me

 

[Northrail127]

Just wondering if there is anyone on here applied for the latest trainee jobs for any depot? I think Hull was recently up, and currently Leeds/Manchester.

How far are you on with it? How are the questions on the application?

 

[mld]

Just wondering if there is anyone on here applied for the latest trainee jobs for any depot? I think Hull was recently up, and currently Leeds/Manchester.

How far are you on with it? How are the questions on the application? I don’t live in those areas but awaiting for a depot in my area to come up, hopefully.

I applied in early October, assessment day/DMI end of Oct, psychometrics and MMI late Nov, medical a week before Christmas, just working my notice period now which is long and I have a start date late April. So, in my experience things move super quickly if you are successful in the application and stages.

 

[Northrail127]

That’s great news. Congratulations! Wish you all the best in your new venture

 

[BW301]

I applied in early October, assessment day/DMI end of Oct, psychometrics and MMI late Nov, medical a week before Christmas, just working my notice period now which is long and I have a start date late April. So, in my experience things move super quickly if you are successful in the application and stages.

Wow this is super quick! Congrats for getting through the process. Any tips?

Just wondering if there is anyone on here applied for the latest trainee jobs for any depot? I think Hull was recently up, and currently Leeds/Manchester.

How far are you on with it? How are the questions on the application? I don’t live in those areas but awaiting for a depot in my area to come up, hopefully.

I've applied for the most recent intake. The online questions were along the lines of:
- a time you had to share info during a high pressure situation
- a time you had to complete an important yet repetitive task
- a time you had to deal with unclear instructions


I haven't heard anything yet, but any tips for the assessment day would be much appreciated! Researched everything I can find online but open to anything anyone might deem helpful

 

[mld]

Wow this is super quick! Congrats for getting through the process. Any tips?


I've applied for the most recent intake. The online questions were along the lines of:
- a time you had to share info during a high pressure situation
- a time you had to complete an important yet repetitive task
- a time you had to deal with unclear instructions


I haven't heard anything yet, but any tips for the assessment day would be much appreciated! Researched everything I can find online but open to anything anyone might deem helpful

Thank you, them questions sound similar, if not the same as the ones I had.

The assessment day is described by someone else pretty well in this thread. Not going to lie, it was brutal. A brief overview;

1st task - 5 tables of people - you do a group task where you work together with your table to try and figure out what time a specific train departed a station, there's loads of facts and figures and you have to try and work it out. It's not about getting the right answer, it's about how you work as a team.

2nd task - you watch a video from the train drivers POV, its maybe 3 minutes max, at the same time as watching the video you have to do 2 things - the assessor will be giving you instructions on how to build a lego statue and at the same time will be asking you questions such as 'what platform number did the train come into' - if you focus too much on the lego you won't see, and vice versa. It's hard.

A break and then when you go back in the room there's a hefty 'cull' - I think 14 left ours and we had 16 left.

3rd task - you watch another video from the train drivers POV for 30 minutes and you have to keep a tally of how many red/yellow and green signals you see.

Another break and then another cull, we had 8 left I think, then we had a longer break for lunch, and then each went into a DMI - standard interview questions focusing mainly on how you deal with boredom and repetitiveness. Someone else on this forum says that they got the questions before the actual interview but that wasn't the case for me. I found out there and then that I'd passed and got through to the next stage which was the psychometrics and MMI all in 1 day.

Good luck and feel free to DM me if I can help anymore.

 

[BW301]

Thank you, them questions sound similar, if not the same as the ones I had.

The assessment day is described by someone else pretty well in this thread. Not going to lie, it was brutal. A brief overview;

1st task - 5 tables of people - you do a group task where you work together with your table to try and figure out what time a specific train departed a station, there's loads of facts and figures and you have to try and work it out. It's not about getting the right answer, it's about how you work as a team.

2nd task - you watch a video from the train drivers POV, its maybe 3 minutes max, at the same time as watching the video you have to do 2 things - the assessor will be giving you instructions on how to build a lego statue and at the same time will be asking you questions such as 'what platform number did the train come into' - if you focus too much on the lego you won't see, and vice versa. It's hard.

A break and then when you go back in the room there's a hefty 'cull' - I think 14 left ours and we had 16 left.

3rd task - you watch another video from the train drivers POV for 30 minutes and you have to keep a tally of how many red/yellow and green signals you see.

Another break and then another cull, we had 8 left I think, then we had a longer break for lunch, and then each went into a DMI - standard interview questions focusing mainly on how you deal with boredom and repetitiveness. Someone else on this forum says that they got the questions before the actual interview but that wasn't the case for me. I found out there and then that I'd passed and got through to the next stage which was the psychometrics and MMI all in 1 day.

Good luck and feel free to DM me if I can help anymore.

That's definitely helpful, thank you!
The Lego task sounds horrible, but I'm glad it's only 3 minutes think I'll struggle with that one but I'll try and practice for it.
Sounds like the DMI doesn't last too long either if they fired through 8 of them in an afternoon. I had an hour planned for that in my head.
Did you have a pen and paper to make notes for any/all of the tests?

The job ad says the earliest course is in April which is interesting, which depot did you apply for?

If I think of anything else I'll drop you a message - thanks!

 

[mattybed21]

I have it from the horses mouth, so to speak, that they have implemented a new system. This system will calculate Monday 8.00am via Google Maps, it will be done automatically, and it seems (if my own calculations and comparisons are correct based on my processed and unprocessed applications) that if your estimated travel times stray outside the 45 minute cut off it's an auto block on your application. This is incredibly frustrating but it is what it is.

Using my postcode to Blackburn for example - If I check today how long it will take me to set off at 8am next Monday, using existing data Google Maps will calculate a figure, and deliver the result using the wording "typically 30-55 minutes". So I'm automatically blocked. Regardless of the fact the higher estimate is only ten mins over the cut off, and the lower estimate is 15 minutes under. Regardless of the fact that a mean average comes under the 45 minutes every day of the week. Also (and I know this because I have been doing this for weeks for my own peace of mind), I if wait till next Monday and calculate the journey in realtime (as in, choose "set off now") the journey will be exactly 30 minutes. It's all very frustrating. I know for a fact that I live exactly 30 minutes drive from both Wigan and Blackburn and have been rejected from both on distance.

Even more frustrating is that when I've applied for Blackburn for two different roles (one conductor role and one depot driver) one was immediatley rejected and later confirmed to be for the distance rules, the other I was under consideration for three weeks until the job was withdrawn. That's two jobs at the same depot.

It all makes no sense and doesn't seem to be getting any easier. I genuinely think that at least partially this is designed to weed out people who give up at the first 20 hurdles from those who are stubborn as hell and never give up! This new "auto block" thing is here to stay unfortunately.

Thanks for that very interesting. If that is the reason for them sending that because they think it will take longer then 45 min at 8am but you know it won’t because I have driven it to see how long it will take can you challenge them?

 

[therest]

What happens at the medical please ?

 

[mld]

What happens at the medical please ?

Medication reviews
Blood pressure
Drugs and alcohol tests
Hearing and sight tests
Colour blindness test
Height and weight
ECG
General balance and fitness tests

I think that was it, might have missed something but nothing more than I was expecting from reading these forums

 

[NickM34]

Evening - Got a friend of mine who has applied for the Manchester driver roles this week. Received an email today inviting him to an online assessment to further assess his skills and experiences.

Assuming this is before being able to progress onto the group activities? Anybody had these online tests?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hep93]

Hi guys I'm hoping this is allowed, apologies if not!

I'm due to start training as a depot driver next week which I'm really excited about however I have just noticed that Northern are currently recruiting for mainline drivers near me once again. I'm hoping to transition to that at some point in the future, I would rather go down that as a career path.

My question is does anyone know how difficult it is to change over? I'm more talking in terms of the application rather than the actual differences between jobs.

I'm hoping my skills and experience learned within the next year or so will make me a good candidate.

 

[muz379]

Hi guys I'm hoping this is allowed, apologies if not!

I'm due to start training as a depot driver next week which I'm really excited about however I have just noticed that Northern are currently recruiting for mainline drivers near me once again. I'm hoping to transition to that at some point in the future, I would rather go down that as a career path.

My question is does anyone know how difficult it is to change over? I'm more talking in terms of the application rather than the actual differences between jobs.

I'm hoping my skills and experience learned within the next year or so will make me a shoe in for future mainline roles.

It is a popular transition that people make, application wise you will be applying internally and some of the experience from depot driving will obviously be relevant. But the focus for now should be on learning what you need to know to pass out as a depot driver and after that focus on keeping a clean safety record.

I wouldn't necessarilly approach it thinking that you should be a shoe in though, there is still internal compettition for mainline driving jobs from other grades as well and if you approach it thinking that it is naturally just going to be yours you might be dissapointed if you do not get there in the end.

 

[mld]

Thanks for that very interesting. If that is the reason for them sending that because they think it will take longer then 45 min at 8am but you know it won’t because I have driven it to see how long it will take can you challenge them?

I very much doubt you can challenge them as they use the same system for all

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jan 2026 ==

Evening - Got a friend of mine who has applied for the Manchester driver roles this week. Received an email today inviting him to an online assessment to further assess his skills and experiences.

Assuming this is before being able to progress onto the group activities? Anybody had these online tests?

Thanks in advance.

I've seen this on another post too, it seems to be a new thing as it wasn't a stage when I applied in October

 

[Seehof]

Hi guys I'm hoping this is allowed, apologies if not!

I'm due to start training as a depot driver next week which I'm really excited about however I have just noticed that Northern are currently recruiting for mainline drivers near me once again. I'm hoping to transition to that at some point in the future, I would rather go down that as a career path.

My question is does anyone know how difficult it is to change over? I'm more talking in terms of the application rather than the actual differences between jobs.

I'm hoping my skills and experience learned within the next year or so will make me a shoe in for future mainline roles.

I do know someone who was a depot driver at Neville Hill. He applied for main line driver training and was on the same driver training course as me.
He had a huge advantage of knowing and experience of train equipment and became a very capable driver. I was quite envious of him!
So being a depot driver is a definite advantage but as muz379 says it is not a golden passport.
Good Luck

 

[Mgees]

Hi, I have made it through to the psychometric assessments for a northern train driver role. However I’ll be travelling to Leeds on Thursday for it and there’s snow forecasted for the morning.

My plan was to get the train but now I’m thinking perhaps a taxi as I don’t drive. I’m travelling from Manchester for a morning slot so I’m quite concerned about the commute.

Any advice?

 

[Hugo3000]

If you're worried about the commute just book a hotel. You don't want to arrive stressed!

 

[dalesrail]

I'd definitely recommend staying over the night before. It's what many people do unless they're local

 

[Mgees]

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I’ll do that!

 

[juspassingby]

Hi Everyone,

I have been asked to complete an 'online assessment' by Northern for a train driver role, this is new to me as I have never been asked to do an online test by Northern before.

Has anyone else had to complete the Online Assessment recently? If so, could you please share with us what kind of assessments it was and how did it go?



== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jan 2026 ==

Evening - Got a friend of mine who has applied for the Manchester driver roles this week. Received an email today inviting him to an online assessment to further assess his skills and experiences.

Assuming this is before being able to progress onto the group activities? Anybody had these online tests?

Thanks in advance.

Hi.. Did you manage to find anymore information on these online assessments by any chance? Also, the email states that if the candidate is successful then they go to an 'in person psychometric assessment'.

 

[northernbadger]

Evening - Got a friend of mine who has applied for the Manchester driver roles this week. Received an email today inviting him to an online assessment to further assess his skills and experiences.

Assuming this is before being able to progress onto the group activities? Anybody had these online tests?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I did this in October and there were parts to it: 1. A situational judgement test, and 2. A 2 minute speaking exercise that assesses your grammar/ability to communicate clearly.

 

[juspassingby]

Hi, I did this in October and there were parts to it: 1. A situational judgement test, and 2. A 2 minute speaking exercise that assesses your grammar/ability to communicate clearly.

Hi

Do you remember any examples from the situational judgement tests? Was it a multiple choice or something else? Also I am pretty confused as to how the 2nd part will work if I am on PC and do not have a microphone

 

[DownboundTrain]

Hi Everyone,

I have been asked to complete an 'online assessment' by Northern for a train driver role, this is new to me as I have never been asked to do an online test by Northern before. I applied once before and passed my Psychometrics but then was in the talent pool for a very long time because of Covid, but I never did an online assessment.

Has anyone else had to complete the Online Assessment recently? If so, could you please share with us what kind of assessments it was and how did it go?

The reason why I am asking is because I did one with with Cross-Country 6 months ago and it was through a company called 'SHL' which based everything around 'shapes' which I am hoping is not the case with Northern.

I look forward to the replies, Thank you in advance.

Kind Regards

JPB


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jan 2026 ==


Hi.. Did you manage to find anymore information on these online assessments by any chance? Also, the email states that if the candidate is successful then they go to an 'in person psychometric assessment'. I have also applied for Manchester Victoria.

It's a few different things. One is ticket checking exercise, comparing data to a key of information, the other two are similar to each other, read some text, choose most/least likely to be how you'd respond. No obvious wrong or best answers, I think it's a personality test in disguise really. Nothing to worry about.

 

[northernbadger]

Hi

Do you remember any examples from the situational judgement tests? Was it a multiple choice or something else? Also I am pretty confused as to how the 2nd part will work if I am on PC and do not have a microphone

Hi, I don't remember any examples I'm afraid, as there was another situational judgement test before the mmi and everything has merged in my head! It wasn't difficult though. It was multiple choice, and the main thing is to choose whichever option demonstrates that you will always put safety first and follow the rules.

For the spoken part, I just used my phone. I have just noticed that the poster above has said that they are something else though, so I'm not sure whether they change them. Honestly though, I was so anxious about it, but when I actually started it, they really weren't difficult at all and I realised I'd been stressing for nothing. Don't overthink it. Good luck.

 

[MPF88]

I applied in early October, assessment day/DMI end of Oct, psychometrics and MMI late Nov, medical a week before Christmas, just working my notice period now which is long and I have a start date late April. So, in my experience things move super quickly if you are successful in the application and stages.

How long was your notice period? and did they have any issues with it?

 

[Hep93]

Hi all, is there any MDDs able to answer me something quickly. Neville hill is seemingly the only depot that takes up to 2 years to get up to full salary, every other depot seems to be on full whack from the get go. Can anyone explain why this is the case?

 

[Northrail127]

Heaton Depot is the same, takes 2 years to get to full salary. Speaking about Heaton alone, it had something to do with previous T&C’s the depot drivers agreed to. No idea of the in’s and out’s, so can’t even give you an explanation why, just that, that’s just how it is.

I believe that’s why Heaton Depot have quite the turnover of MDD’s as a lot of them try to swiftly transfer to mainline. Can’t blame them in some ways.

 

[LokiB]

Heaton Depot is the same, takes 2 years to get to full salary. Speaking about Heaton alone, it had something to do with previous T&C’s the depot drivers agreed to. No idea of the in’s and out’s, so can’t even give you an explanation why, just that, that’s just how it is.

I believe that’s why Heaton Depot have quite the turnover of MDD’s as a lot of them try to swiftly transfer to mainline. Can’t blame them in some ways.

3 years to get to full rate on mainline with Northern.

 

[Northrail127]

I agree but it’s still a substantial pay rise, not including other TOC’s

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jan 2026 ==

I agree but it’s still a substantial pay rise, not including other TOC’s

Btw, I am not advocating the movement or the quick transition of MDD’s from Heaton depot nor do I know any figures, it’s all hearsay. I am just going off what I’ve been told, you can make a fantastic career out of being an MDD, especially with the traction that goes into Heaton, its a good variety which will put you in good stead should you want to extend that career to mainline.

 

[mld]

How long was your notice period? and did they have any issues with it?

4 months and no issues whatsoever. They gave me a preliminary course date which was 5 months away, I then had to get my medical and contract before I could hand my notice in, fortunately that happened to give me the full 4 months to play with. By the time the contract comes it had firmed up the start date, my current employer gave me the option of leaving earlier than 4 months, but it was only after Northern had confirmed my course date, so that leaves me working my full notice period