Arriva Rail NCG driver roster

[EastClintwood]

I don't suppose anyone knows the how the driver rota will work with ARL? I understand the early starts and late finishes, but unsure how the days off will work. Does anybody know how many weekends you get off? Is it one in two? One in three? Do you simply work 4 on and 4 off?

I did email HR at Arrive for this information but they were unable to help, so hopefully someone here will know the answer.

Thank you in advance.

 

[greatkingrat]

You get alternate Sundays off and a 7 day long weekend every 4 weeks. Other than that there isn't really a pattern to the rest days.

 

[EastClintwood]

Thanks for the reply. How about Saturdays? Do you only get Saturdays off during that 7 day weekend?

 

[Skoodle]

Long weekends run from Weds/Thurs to Tues/Weds. Not all links have 7 day LW, some have 5, some have 6. You're pretty much guaranteed every other Saturday off.

 

[EastClintwood]

Thanks for all your help, Skoodle. I assume the Saturday and Sundays off will generally be grouped together, so you have both off rather than just one?

 

[Latecomer]

The Sunday's are always every other weekend and the vast majority of the time have a Saturday attached (and very often a Friday too, or on the long weekend a Wednesday or Thursday through to Tuesday. There are a couple of 'rogue' Saturday's a year in most links which means two or three times a year or so you are rostered to work three Saturday's in a row. Some opt to book this extra Saturday off from annual leave to protect the one weekend on/one off arrangement. There are plenty of people who cram in rest day work who don't seem to care about having weekends off.

24 or 25 weekends a year you will always have both Saturday and Sunday off. Further to this you get 4 fixed annual leave weeks a year and you also have a generous amount of flexible annual leave that you can always use to book weekends off on those you are rostered to work. At peak summer holiday time this leave may not always be granted of course.

 

[EastClintwood]

The Sunday's are always every other weekend and the vast majority of the time have a Saturday attached (and very often a Friday too, or on the long weekend a Wednesday or Thursday through to Tuesday. There are a couple of 'rogue' Saturday's a year in most links which means two or three times a year or so you are rostered to work three Saturday's in a row. Some opt to book this extra Saturday off from annual leave to protect the one weekend on/one off arrangement. There are plenty of people who cram in rest day work who don't seem to care about having weekends off.

24 or 25 weekends a year you will always have both Saturday and Sunday off. Further to this you get 4 fixed annual leave weeks a year and you also have a generous amount of flexible annual leave that you can always use to book weekends off on those you are rostered to work. At peak summer holiday time this leave may not always be granted of course.

Fantastic. This seems almost too good to be true. Late and early starts are nothing to me, so no worries, but was a bit concerned about giving up almost every weekend as I am a single father, but this seems fine too. Let's just hope I pass the medical, assuming I'm not a smack head, alcoholic, or my heart is about to give way or something! I'm actually nervous about the medical because in the interview they explained that once or twice someone had discovered a heart defect during the medical, so had the double whammy of the illness and losing the job. Should be a formality but complacency is not in my nature. I'm so excited and so grateful to everyone on here. Thank you guys. Couldn't have done it without this forum.

 

[Deano4]

Fantastic. This seems almost too good to be true. Late and early starts are nothing to me, so no worries, but was a bit concerned about giving up almost every weekend as I am a single father, but this seems fine too. Let's just hope I pass the medical, assuming I'm not a smack head, alcoholic, or my heart is about to give way or something! I'm actually nervous about the medical because in the interview they explained that once or twice someone had discovered a heart defect during the medical, so had the double whammy of the illness and losing the job. Should be a formality but complacency is not in my nature. I'm so excited and so grateful to everyone on here. Thank you guys. Couldn't have done it without this forum.

Sorry to jump on this thread....But do a lot of drivers swap shifts? i.e. if I wanted to work all earlier shifts then would that be possible?

 

[Latecomer]

Sorry to jump on this thread....But do a lot of drivers swap shifts? i.e. if I wanted to work all earlier shifts then would that be possible?

There's a pretty active swaps group and a lot of people do swap for shifts that suit their circumstances (or their body clock) better. Naturally it is up to drivers to get the swap signed off and it is beholden on them to ensure they don't break 'Hidden' rules. It will not go down well if you mess up and don't turn up at the correct time!

 

[Traininday]

Long weekends run from Weds/Thurs to Tues/Weds. Not all links have 7 day LW, some have 5, some have 6. You're pretty much guaranteed every other Saturday off.

This sounds too good to be true. In regards to the 24hr service that's going to be running on Friday and Saturday night, does anyone know if those shifts will be incorporated into the rota or they will have a separate rota for people who only want to do nights??

 

[Grannyjoans]

Incorporated.

Christ, I'm not looking forwards to this.