Recent content by Fig

The earliest start at GX is currently 0541 (Mon-Fri), 0450 (Sat), 0526 (Sun). You will be entitled to a taxi from home for any book on before 5am. Same parking arrangements at Vic as Southern drivers, AFAIK.The car park at Victoria is outside the Congestion Charge zone, just. Make sure you plan...

387201 today Gatwick

There is a very strong rumour that today (Sat 15 Sep 2012) will see the final 460 service. I don't believe it myself, heard it too many times before, but if true, the last passenger service will be 1U57, 23:20 Gatwick Airport to Victoria. 460002 has the honours. Don't expect a fanfare. :-(

Gatwick Express services often use Victoria 'Eastern' platforms. Especially early morning/late night. Routes can be set to Kent or Sussex from the Eastern side.

West Ruislip and Ickenham stations are less than a mile apart. About 10 mins walk at a brisk pace. The same journey by rail would take at least an hour longer. :o

The check-in at Victoria was on the corner of Eccleston Bridge Road and the rear station access. It's still there, but empty.

Southern seem committed to replacing the entire 460 fleet with 442s on the Gatwick Express service. This decision has been met with the criticism that the 442s are not fit for the job due to the poor access provided by the single width carriage end doors. Would it make more sense to use the...

Oh really? Seems a bit of a waste spending thousands on new uniforms then?

Now South of the river

Can I just point out that Willesden Junction station is not in Willesden. Willesden is a few miles up the road and a very nice place. Well, the Willesden Green end is anyway. I lived there for a couple of years and liked it a lot. The Kinks even wrote a song about it. :D

You can add Southern to the list. Won't even consider an application unless you are 30 min from depot at time of application.

I concur with Ravey Davy from The Navy. You seem to be ticking a lot of the boxes that recruiters look for. If you haven't already, check out http://www.railwayregister.care4free.net/ Don't worry about your age. I'm 40 and it hasn't been an issue so far. Vacancies appear to be on the rise at...

Any more news, Polls? I had my medical this morning. Just under 33 on the BMI, but the therapist gave the impression that there was no hard and fast limit and that it was more about general mobility.

I would say about half of us passed. The structured interviews were held at a later date. But my point was not about how many passed but about what type of person had survived the initial sift to actually get a chance to pass. I accept that "make the best of yourself" is not bad advice for a...

Allow me to make an observation on 'The Mantra'. Last year, I attended an assessment day with one of those commuter TOCs down South. I was one of about 10 or 12, invited from what I can only imagine must have been thousands of applicants, to attend the assessment on that day. Of those 10 or...