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I should have clarified that is my experience at my current TOC. There are variations of course between companies. Some have higher basic salaries but work some compulsory Sundays etc. Some are instructors and get additional through that. The point I was making was that I have heard of *some*...

Basic is 50-65k for most operators. However it's a 4 day week, Sundays are not included but paid at time and half, plus working the odd rest day, sone drivers do approach 100k. But they're eroding their work/life balance I suppose. Depends on their priorities.

This doesn't surprise me, having lived in Luton for years (it was all I could afford at the time!). I finally escaped the place & people to somewhere leafier... and more intelligent :lol:

Haven't received the typical questions a lot, but I know they are asked a lot! I did have a nice reaction from a phone conversation with a banking/insurance advisor when we were planning to move house. She just went "OoooOOOhhh that's an interesting job!" :lol:

Yeah I'd agree with that. Religious conservatism and fundamentalism tends to be homophobic. However the most homophobia I've witnessed or experienced has come from white British working & middle class men and teens (from when I was at school). They may or may not have been religious, but they...

That's really good that you get to do that. When I was in training, we did vice versa, and got to visit Birmingham New St box with the old style panels, and Worcester Shrub Hill semaphore box to get the Signaller's take on things.

Have been readiing, with interest, this thread a month hence. And now it's Pride month, I thought I should be a bit more umm...visible, in stations, and a colourful wave to camera-toting spotters

Yep, a safety critical role (platform dispatcher, guard etc) on the railway would give you experience in working within safety rules and procedures. In fact any role that works within a srandard of safety rules & regs would be beneficial. It may be worth doing an online Ishihara colourblind test...

Sounds a bit too real :D Maybe they could do an exhibition to show how current British-assembled trains are the new British Leyland. Ah yea true. It's still there. I suppose an IET is a later generation bullet train too. I suppose it is for some. It's not a run-of-the-mill EMU. AFAIK the...

I often wonder if the decline has happened because of the lack of loco variety (although it's not entirely down to that!). Largely multiple units running isn't quite the same. I had this conversation a few years back with fellow (older) volunteers at the NRM York. I asked what would be put on...

My error, apologies. It isn't engineering work that's shutting sales. It's the change of timetable that happens in May. So they've closed sales certain weekends.

The 4th & 5th of May are Dutch bank holidays, so will blend into a long bank holiday weekend 4-8th. School hols end on 8th as well. Both weekends of 7-8th and 21st-22nd have engineering works taking place. So yeah, the 14-15th could well be sold out if it's the only weekend unaffected.

Congratulations. Foot in the door. If you want to move to passenger working in the future, it's relatively easy to make that move.

Usually 8 trainees iin the classroom, (pre-pandemic non-social distancing normality) At our depot, at any rate, courses were 6 weeks apart, not sure how many per year, 4-5 maybe.

The Kent-Pas de Calais omnibus was mooted by their local councils about the same time as DB hauled a dead ICE3 through the Tunnel to campaign for the London-Frankfurt that never was. And that was when it was easier, being in the EU. The omnibus would never work because you'd have to have...

Have been reading this thread with interest since I worked at both Waterloo & St Pancras ticket offices. Eurostar used to have a standard flexible/refundable ticket, but this was withdrawn about 10 years ago. IIRC it was £149 sgl, £298 return. At that same time, lower value Business Premier...

This is a good question, and part of developing your non-technical skills. I go to the loo a little more often. Might be just after I book on, or after 1st train of the day on arrival in London etc. Yuu have 1 or 2 official breaks in the shift but there are other gaps of 10-30mins here and there...

Indeed, the apprenticeship people do a week of functional skills (english, maths, IT). I had GCSEs A-C in the 1st 2, but never did IT. So they do a 2 day condensed course on IT and then give you the functional skills test. I was exempt from the other tests because I could produce my GCSE...

You get birds of prey hunting around Leighton Buzzard on the WCML. Red Kites rather than buzzards as the name might suggest though. 1 day I saw Bird A swoop down on Bird B, and bash it with its wing. Bird B dropped the food it was carrying in its beak, Bird A caught it and made off with it...

Yes, and slip/slide is a hot topic at the moment.