First Great Western or Southern Railways?

[Chrisdc144]

Hi All

I have been offered a conditional employment with both companies as a Trainee Train Driver and was wondering if there was anyone on here from both companies, just to find out a bit of info from the respective companies. Im not quite sure who to go with but slightly edging to FGW. Just happy that I have been offered a job!

Any info would be great!!!

Thanks

Chris

 

[skwiot86]

It depends where you based

 

[Vicpaul]

Lots of different factors. Feel free to pm me

 

[Gliderider]

I used to be a driver with Southern and now work for FGW. Feel free to send me a pm.

 

[Chrisdc144]

Hi

yes sorry should have stated which depot. FGW at Paddington and Southern at Victoria

Chris
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I used to be a driver with Southern and now work for FGW. Feel free to send me a pm.

Hi gliderider

Cant PM you as I think you need to do more posts. I am presuming you prefer FGW?

Chris

 

[A-driver]

If both are London terminal jobs then you will find the work to be pretty much the same at either. Victoria probably has more variety but also more slow back road routes whilst paddington is slightly more mainline and higher speed routes (I know you won't be on HSTs but stoppers to oxford etc will still be more high speed mainline like than going round the crystal palace and Wallington lines.

Think about the future to- you could move further away from London, would you prefer that to be to the south coast or West Country.

Also beat in mind that both depots have changes if franchise coming up. Vic probably won't see much effect from thameslink as it's fairly isolated from that compared to some SN depots but paddington will very likely become a cross rail depot in the coming years.

 

[Chrisdc144]

If both are London terminal jobs then you will find the work to be pretty much the same at either. Victoria probably has more variety but also more slow back road routes whilst paddington is slightly more mainline and higher speed routes (I know you won't be on HSTs but stoppers to oxford etc will still be more high speed mainline like than going round the crystal palace and Wallington lines.

Think about the future to- you could move further away from London, would you prefer that to be to the south coast or West Country.

Also beat in mind that both depots have changes if franchise coming up. Vic probably won't see much effect from thameslink as it's fairly isolated from that compared to some SN depots but paddington will very likely become a cross rail depot in the coming years.

Hi mate

Thanks for the info. Very much appreciated. Haven't really thought about the relocation before but definitely something worth considering. Thanks again

Chris

 

[bystander]

Also beat in mind that both depots have changes if franchise coming up. Vic probably won't see much effect from thameslink as it's fairly isolated from that compared to some SN depots but paddington will very likely become a cross rail depot in the coming years.

Er, no Paddington will not become a Crossrail depot. Full stop. This keeps cropping up as a rumour but it just is not true. There will be a Crossrail depot at Paddington but that won't be anything to do with the current GW depot. There will still be a lot of work to cover from Paddington GW. While most of the current stopping services east of Maidenhead will become Crossrail services (and the (separate) Heathrow Connect services will disappear overnight), there will still be a similar number of GW trains running as is the case now - with more of these being fast or semi-fast east of Maidenhead. Paddington LTV drivers also sign 180s so you will have 125mph running from the start of your career at Padd. My view is that Padd is a much better bet for quality of work and variety of work than Southern metro depots.

 

[plastictaffy]

I wouldn't touch anything to do with FGW right now. Company is losing money hand over fist - there's even been talk of handing the keys back to the franchise. Southern is, I believe (I'll be corrected quickly enough if I'm wrong, no doubt) a growth franchise - so basically, they seem to be a bit more free with the wealth. First as a whole are not in great shape right now. Ultimately though, the choice is up to you. You are in a very enviable position.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Why would First give the keys back to a Franchise Extension that they have only just been awarded?

 

[Flamingo]

Even if First Group does not get the next franchise, it won't be a case of everybody is fired and Paddington will be sold as a carpark. Trains will still be running, most people will just get a different co loured uniform and continue in their jobs.

 

[W230]

I wouldn't touch anything to do with FGW right now. Company is losing money hand over fist - there's even been talk of handing the keys back to the franchise. Southern is, I believe (I'll be corrected quickly enough if I'm wrong, no doubt) a growth franchise - so basically, they seem to be a bit more free with the wealth. First as a whole are not in great shape right now. Ultimately though, the choice is up to you. You are in a very enviable position.

Can't see much relevance with a change of franchise in terms of a driving job. Different colour t-shirt maybe?

There may be changes with routes signed by certain depots being added/removed etc but that can happen anyway or in the middle of a franchise. Passenger work is very stable and someone has to run the trains no matter what franchise it is!

I don't work for Southern but the drivers I speak to (mainly Selhurst/Victoria/London Bridge depots) do a lot of metro work. There is a bit of variety in their work (well more than there is at my TOC ) but there may be more at Paddington with FGW. Southern are massively short off drivers though and if you want to work rest days once you qualify then you can do as many as you want if that's what floats your boat.

But, knowing what i know now, unless one depot had work that was so repetitive it would bore me to tears, I would probably just work at the closest depot to my house. It really does make those early starts than bit less painful!

Good luck!

 

[Chrisdc144]

Hi

Thanks to all the replies, much appreciated. Just filled in the Disclosure Scotland for FGW and Backcheck for Southern. Have medical for southern this coming saturday.

Just a waiting game now.

Chris

 

[Gliderider]

Hi

yes sorry should have stated which depot. FGW at Paddington and Southern at Victoria

Chris
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Hi gliderider

Cant PM you as I think you need to do more posts. I am presuming you prefer FGW?

Chris

Haven't been with FGW for long but I guess a lot of it comes down to where you want to live. However, I think the opportunities for driver development are probably greater with FGW what with HSTs/IEPs/size of network. Of course, Southern's franchise is up soon so it remains to be seen what happens in the south east. Interesting times ahead!