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And from what I heard on Tuesday, there was so much wheelslip/wheelslide, drivers reporting this led to cancellations as it was imposible to run the service safely.

Was thinking that if there are drivers in their 70s, they're likely to be in the top link of their respective depot. And that usually comes with the perk of not too extreme shift times. No early starts, nor late finishes, nor nights.

Ah 3308, good ol' "Christine" :lol:

Yes Eurostar non-safeguarded staff are issued with PRIV cards with the boxes crossed out, which is valid for the 75% discount on NR. In the past, I showed that to LUL staff, and they added the PRIV condition to my normal Oyster card on a machine. PTACs are issued to Eurostar staff that commute...

DI = Driving Instructor :smile: All train operators have had this problem with training courses. There has been a shortage of classroom space to socially distance in, and a shortage of instructors willing to take on a new trainee and enter a training bubble (due to their own health conditions or...

I stand corrected! :smile:

Payday is 4 weekly, so you'd get your first pay, 3 weeks worth, on Fri 15th Oct.

Bit of a saga... Had done many years as station staff but couldn't move internally as my operator only recruited existing mainline drivers with 5+ years experience. Had to look elsewhere. 1st attempt, Heathrow Express, passed all psychometrics (do they do the coloured buttons & pedals test...

Bletchley.

In my group of 8 at WMT, we all got through the 4 months of classroom. 2 have passed out qualified, and the rest of us are doing our pass-out over the next month or so. They do help you out and the ones that came from internal (guards) are a mine of info for an external like myself. Feel free to...

I reluctantly voted for the HST based on its design and 40 years service isn't bad for a stop-gap measure and beating the APT competition. I didn't vote for the e300 Eurostar because it just isn't the same as an original spec TMST, which I would've put top. The quality and money that was put...

The 373s/e300s wouldn't get shortened, but I wonder if the 374s/e320s could be shortened & modified to 8 cars, and coupled together. They are technically 4 powered EMUs coupled into a 16 car set anyway.

When you're walking through a 373 power car, at speed (to help a train manager take a coffee to the driver), through the tunnel from Dagenham to Stratford, 230km/h seems as fast as 300. The hurricane force winds coming through the air intakes + wind noise + the racket from the motors & gubbins...

I thought you were going to say the only real driver to use it was when you saw me in uniform travelling for duty :lol: The train manager told me to go sit in coach G to pass on a service.

It's an ongoing thing. Wouldn't worry about it. I had the same letter when I started 18 months ago. So did every other trainee. We asked established drivers about it, to which they said they hadn't been issued contracts either.

Close! In training to drive 350s for LNWR down south. It would depend what TOC you are in, and which link within that. This would govern how far you go and where, e.g. I drive Northampton-London only. More senior drivers might be in a link that also does Watford-St Albans, or Bletchley-Bedford...

Since the thread 'Day of a Train Driver' is closed for new replies, I'm happy to answer questions on how shifts go (early mornings, days/evenings, nights). Just send me a message or I can reply in a new thread.

For some TOCs, and taken from experience in my training, the functional skills (maths, English, ICT) are compulsory as part of the apprenticeship programme. If you have the equivalent GCSEs A-C certificates in those subjects, you are exempt from that part of the course.

I would declare any medication recently taken that you think will affect the result. A driver should declare any medication taken to his/her manager prior to working a shift. Also a driver can be randomly screened, but as long as you have declared what medication has been taken beforehand, it's ok.

I think the APT was envisaged to be part of the channel tunnel project. If a joint train/brand/TOC wasn't developed, the APT was to be BR's offering, and SNCF would've had some sort of TGV derivative.