Recent content by ExMover

I was 52 when I joined as a trainee driver 3 years ago. Age is absolutely not a barrier (as long as you can pass the tests). Job is brilliant - go for it!

I didn’t become a driver til I was 52 and, like you I came from outside of the railway. Age is absolutely NOT an issue! It’s you and what you can do that they’re interested in, not how old you are.

It makes it easy then to progress you to the mainline as required, just by giving you some more training.

I don’t think you’re supposed to say and it varies on circumstances such as whether the student is living at home or having to pay for accommodation, but it can be up to a couple of thousand pounds.

Yep, it's still there and very much up and running. My 2 lads have just got grants for this year and next. Absolutely brilliant perk!

Don’t take too long, these opportunities have a habit of being taken down well before the closing date. My only advice would be to think of it as the first rung of the ladder in the driver grade. Climbing it is way easier than getting onto it in the first place. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I think you’d work almost exclusively at Bescot. If you get the same shifts as the mainline drivers, the turns are 0600-1700, 0800-1900, 1900-0600. There are some shorter ones as well so that overall you end up doing 4 on 3 off and 35 hrs per week. There’ll be loads of rdw if you want it.

I’m a West Mids DB driver. The Junior Driver grade is indeed limited to yards and so West Mids will be Bescot and East Mids will be Toton. At the moment mainline drivers are covering those jobs and the idea is to release them to the mainline jobs for which they are getting paid. There is such a...

It said on the ad that they would take it down early if they had enough applicants.

I'm one of those new joiners and everything posted above by DerekDingle is true. Some of the other stuff on here is not. The people that stayed at DB are positive about the future, those that left are not. Who's right will no doubt be clearer in tne future but, for now, DB is a good place to work.

Having done exactly what you’re planning to do 2 years ago, all I can say is ‘go for it’. The disciplined military culture that you have probably become completely used to is highly valued on the railway to the point where some TOCs and FOCs have even specifically targeted us. Of course there is...

I wouldn't have thought being Dislexic would specifically be a block to becoming a driver and from what I can recall, most of the tests are verbally briefed and don't require much writing. You may, however, find the course challenging as that definitely involves a lot of reading and writing...

It seems to vary by company, I've heard of 2 and even 3 years minimum service to avoid a financial penalty (which is how they normally penalise you for leaving early). That said, i came from a TOC to my current FOC and there was no contractual obligation whatsoever other than working my notice...

I joined the railway as a driver when I was 52 after 29 years in the RAF. Age is absolutely not a barrier to becoming a driver. The TOCs and FOCs are interested in you and what you can offer, not how old you are. The tests you have to do are largely designed to show whether you are capable of...

I guess I won’t be the only one feeling like I need to study hard then! I do plenty of shunting at the moment but anything over 25 mph and I’ll probably get a nose bleed lol.