Same applied last night & received the same email. Application different to others I’ve done though, there’s no initial assessment. So I guess they’re purely going off our CV’s.
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First Rail London - Trainee Driver - Recruitment Discussion
- Thread starter greatkingrat
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It closed midway through applying ;/
If it were my choice I'd make it illegal to close adverts earlier - I'd rather companies gave a short closure date and extended it rather than a longer one and keep pulling it back. Many public transport operators do this but it is infuriating.
If it were my choice I'd make it illegal to close adverts earlier - I'd rather companies gave a short closure date and extended it rather than a longer one and keep pulling it back. Many public transport operators do this but it is infuriating.
Business Bob
Member
Enhanced
As DA1 states... intense work, its a feeder depot like Willesden so Lateral Transfers to other depots, and then there is retirements, leaving for other TOCs and the commitment by First to increase the service on the ELL
Thanks for the info. Just a few more questions if you don't mind me asking. What are the generally favoured depots people move onto? What's ELL? and lastly, has they been a pay award for 2026 for LO?
@Business Bob Hey I am preparing for DMI , I just wanted to ask if you know weather there is a lot of customer service based questions in the DMI as this would be my weaker area?
Unobrow
Member
v16ull
Member
Thanks very much
Business Bob
Member
From NXG mostly Stratford and Chingford although some do come to Willesden and Euston.
ELL = East London Line aka Windrush
No awards as yet. Talks only just started couple weeks ago with First.
v16ull
Member
Im very curious to know why the trainee train driver vacancy closed so quickly (it was live less than 24 hours) when the closing date was supposed to be the 15th June. Reading back through this thread, it appears a lot of people were mid way through the recruitment process with Arriva and were transferred to FRL with others in a talent pool. Have all those people been processed now or will they be added to the successful applicants to this vacancy when it comes to allocating courses etc?
Mattplans
Member
I see a lot on here about NXG depot and how it is supposedly so intense and the least desirable depot in LO. I don't, however, understand how it's any more intense than the Mildmay line or tbh any Tube line. Is it more about the diagrams than just the work?
Unobrow
Member
Probably due to the number of applications received in that short time. If you see a vacancy you want to go for, it should be applied for asap, it’s quite common for advertisements to close early.
v16ull
Member
Yes, I am aware that trainee train driver vacancies often close early but this one wasn’t even up 24 hours? I thought maybe it may be something to do with the number of candidates FRL have inherited from Arriva.
GrooveLine
Member
Will do. Thanks.
No they genuinely can go that quickly. Thousands of people will have set up alerts and if even hundreds apply that's weeks of sifting. Given the current state of the job market, I am not surprised.
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A fair point. You would think recruitment teams at TOCs would have learnt by now that they keep getting hundreds/thousands of applicants within a few days!
I would rather them closing it early then receive 10,000s applicants and its a lottery draw to get into the assessments stage. They probably closed it after 100-200 first applicants so they can actually humanly review every one of them.
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You may want that but being brutal the company knows that it's very much a "buyer's market" for trainee driver apps and will get hundreds of applicants, so can essentially do whatever they want whilst knowing they will get the quality they need.
v16ull
Member
Just reaching out to see if anybody who applied on the 1st June has anything further than a “your application is with the hiring manager” email?
Highly unlikely you'll hear anything yet; if there's one thing you need to know about railway recruitment is you need to be very patient.
Nope still waiting
v16ull
Member
Im a middle aged woman and patience isn’t my strong point lol
I’ve never applied for a trainee train driver role before so don’t know what to expect, I do realise it’s a long process with little chance of success.
I applied last year September was placed on long list. Only asked to come for OPC in april 22 this year, they did at the time say 6000 people applied for that role. Most likely will be months if the process is same as arriva they will give u shl test maybe within couple weeks from now
v16ull
Member
Thats interesting, I assume that was for Arriva? I see from a previous post you have passed your stage 2 (which I presume is the interviews), congratulations
Would you mind sharing which of the OPC tests you were subjected to in rounds 1 and 2? I appreciate it could be a while before I am contacted (if I even get that far) but I would be a lot happier if I knew what to prepare for.
Purplerain77
Member
Hi everyone, I’ve just noticed the listing for NXG has been put back up so anyone that didn’t finish the application or didn’t start one do it now!
If FRL will keep the process the same,the link shows the path https://www.arrivaraillondon.co.uk/careers/how-to-become-a-train-driver/ and shows which tests you will have to do
That's strange. I wonder why they've put it back up
Unobrow
Member
Trainee Driver Assessment Process Tips
This forum was very helpful to me as I went through the application and assessment process to be a trainee train driver, so I thought I would pass on a few tips to help others, too! So, you made it through the paper sift and you get invited to the assessment centre – well done, you have an...
www.railforums.co.uk
@Henry68 I am still waiting for mine but my understanding is you will need company knowledge few similar questions to the MMI some customer service questions, what you know about role and why you want to be a train driver? How long did you wait for your DMI as its been a week since I passed but nothing yet and I have holiday coming up soon hoping I can get it out of the way before that?