Grand Central Driver - Recruitment process

[Stevep79]

Hi all - First time poster here…

I’ve applied for Qualified Driver for GC but received two different emails back; firstly asking me to attend an assessment day (which I couldn’t make, so thought I would receive the same invite at a later date) but now I’ve been asked to attend an interview with no mentions of assessments.
Does anyone have experience in the recruitment process with them, or any pointers what to expect? And the big Q… what are they like to work for???
Many thanks

 

[Driver068]

Generally the recruitment process is an Interview, Safety of the Line form then Medical. After those steps then contract in the post as such.

I know a handful of drivers who have been employed recently and neither have been required to conduct an assessment. So this was either in error or your the first, which I find very much unlikely as its only the trainee positions which were offered in the past that were required to undergo assessments.

As for company, well depends what you look for. The company are pretty laid back. Most of the jobs are double crewed which means you'll drive one way. Earliest book on is 0450hrs and latest book off is about 0040hrs. However this varies as.depending on where you live means you can amend your diagrams taxis to/from Tyne Yard meaning you done have to start/finish at Sunderland. 4 months ago id say GC had nothing positive going on until recently. New trains in the process and potentially new routes so future looking positive.

Decent depot with a mix of older hands and younger driver. All mix in to help with swaps and splitting the driving.

You'll get no issues of management, like I said laid back and left to crank on. Only time you'll see them is for downloads, assessments or a face to face for any issues such as near misses or welfare checks.

Depot about 30 drivers with 4 managers however GC have hired a head of drivers so some sort of structure may change or stream lines.

28 days annual leave. This can be split into individual days. So if you want a week off and your on 4 rest days, then you'll only use 2 AL days.

Lodging works out on average 1x every 10 days, potentially less if you've not picked a lodge up off spare. This is about 50/50. There are 2 lodge jobs. First is your down from 0846hrs and finish at 1540hrs, then your 0515 hrs start the following day finishing about half 12 then the other is 1710hrs sign on and done for 2330hrs to then start at 1237hrs the following day finishing around 1800hrs.
However there have been rumours they want to do away with the lodges, then week day lodges but nothing has come of it and its unlikely they will do.
Weekend lodges can be a pain as you could finish mid afternoon on a Fri or Sat but then not leave until 1830hrs Sat or Sun.

Be aware timetables are due to change in Dec 2025 meaning later departure out of London on most jobs. This could result in the book on/off times I have mentioned. As GC (Sunderland) have no ASLEF rep, no one knows what the diagrams will look like until this is resolved.

I hope this helps and if you require anything else then feel free to PM me

Cheers

 

[whoosh]

Weekend lodges can be a pain as you could finish mid afternoon on a Fri or Sat but then not leave until 1830hrs Sat or Sun.

Maybe a theatre night out with a partner?
Every cloud...

 

[Stevep79]

Generally the recruitment process is an Interview, Safety of the Line form then Medical. After those steps then contract in the post as such.

I know a handful of drivers who have been employed recently and neither have been required to conduct an assessment. So this was either in error or your the first, which I find very much unlikely as its only the trainee positions which were offered in the past that were required to undergo assessments.

As for company, well depends what you look for. The company are pretty laid back. Most of the jobs are double crewed which means you'll drive one way. Earliest book on is 0450hrs and latest book off is about 0040hrs. However this varies as.depending on where you live means you can amend your diagrams taxis to/from Tyne Yard meaning you done have to start/finish at Sunderland. 4 months ago id say GC had nothing positive going on until recently. New trains in the process and potentially new routes so future looking positive.

Decent depot with a mix of older hands and younger driver. All mix in to help with swaps and splitting the driving.

You'll get no issues of management, like I said laid back and left to crank on. Only time you'll see them is for downloads, assessments or a face to face for any issues such as near misses or welfare checks.

Depot about 30 drivers with 4 managers however GC have hired a head of drivers so some sort of structure may change or stream lines.

28 days annual leave. This can be split into individual days. So if you want a week off and your on 4 rest days, then you'll only use 2 AL days.

Lodging works out on average 1x every 10 days, potentially less if you've not picked a lodge up off spare. This is about 50/50. There are 2 lodge jobs. First is your down from 0846hrs and finish at 1540hrs, then your 0515 hrs start the following day finishing about half 12 then the other is 1710hrs sign on and done for 2330hrs to then start at 1237hrs the following day finishing around 1800hrs.
However there have been rumours they want to do away with the lodges, then week day lodges but nothing has come of it and its unlikely they will do.
Weekend lodges can be a pain as you could finish mid afternoon on a Fri or Sat but then not leave until 1830hrs Sat or Sun.

Be aware timetables are due to change in Dec 2025 meaning later departure out of London on most jobs. This could result in the book on/off times I have mentioned. As GC (Sunderland) have no ASLEF rep, no one knows what the diagrams will look like until this is resolved.

I hope this helps and if you require anything else then feel free to PM me

Cheers

Hi
Thank you for taking the time to answer, it’s very much appreciated. All the info sounds good to me and ticks boxes.
I’ve heard that I may lose some money switching my pension over from a TOC Railway pension but it may be something I’m prepared to do.
Just to push my luck here, can I ask about the salary - it’s something I don’t want to be too blatant about in the interview. And speaking of which, have you heard around the depot of the Rules/Competency questions that may be coming my way? Thanks in advance

 

[357]

Generally the recruitment process is an Interview, Safety of the Line form then Medical. After those steps then contract in the post as such.

I know a handful of drivers who have been employed recently and neither have been required to conduct an assessment. So this was either in error or your the first, which I find very much unlikely as its only the trainee positions which were offered in the past that were required to undergo assessments.

As for company, well depends what you look for. The company are pretty laid back. Most of the jobs are double crewed which means you'll drive one way. Earliest book on is 0450hrs and latest book off is about 0040hrs. However this varies as.depending on where you live means you can amend your diagrams taxis to/from Tyne Yard meaning you done have to start/finish at Sunderland. 4 months ago id say GC had nothing positive going on until recently. New trains in the process and potentially new routes so future looking positive.

Decent depot with a mix of older hands and younger driver. All mix in to help with swaps and splitting the driving.

You'll get no issues of management, like I said laid back and left to crank on. Only time you'll see them is for downloads, assessments or a face to face for any issues such as near misses or welfare checks.

Depot about 30 drivers with 4 managers however GC have hired a head of drivers so some sort of structure may change or stream lines.

28 days annual leave. This can be split into individual days. So if you want a week off and your on 4 rest days, then you'll only use 2 AL days.

Lodging works out on average 1x every 10 days, potentially less if you've not picked a lodge up off spare. This is about 50/50. There are 2 lodge jobs. First is your down from 0846hrs and finish at 1540hrs, then your 0515 hrs start the following day finishing about half 12 then the other is 1710hrs sign on and done for 2330hrs to then start at 1237hrs the following day finishing around 1800hrs.
However there have been rumours they want to do away with the lodges, then week day lodges but nothing has come of it and its unlikely they will do.
Weekend lodges can be a pain as you could finish mid afternoon on a Fri or Sat but then not leave until 1830hrs Sat or Sun.

Be aware timetables are due to change in Dec 2025 meaning later departure out of London on most jobs. This could result in the book on/off times I have mentioned. As GC (Sunderland) have no ASLEF rep, no one knows what the diagrams will look like until this is resolved.

I hope this helps and if you require anything else then feel free to PM me

Cheers

This is correct for your depot, it's a little different on the other side. But by most accounts one of the best TOCs you could work for as a driver.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Aug 2025 ==

However there have been rumours they want to do away with the lodges, then week day lodges but nothing has come of it and its unlikely they will do.

I could make a remark about cross-depot working but I won't

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Aug 2025 ==

can I ask about the salary

It's in the members section of the aslef website.

 

[SR6]

Hi all - First time poster here…

I’ve applied for Qualified Driver for GC but received two different emails back; firstly asking me to attend an assessment day (which I couldn’t make, so thought I would receive the same invite at a later date) but now I’ve been asked to attend an interview with no mentions of assessments.
Does anyone have experience in the recruitment process with them, or any pointers what to expect? And the big Q… what are they like to work for???
Many thanks

Have you received confirmation since getting the email about the potential interview date? I received an email asking if I was still interested in the job and what date they were looking to hold interviews but not heard anything back since.

 

[Stevep79]

Have you received confirmation since getting the email about the potential interview date? I received an email asking if I was still interested in the job and what date they were looking to hold interviews but not heard anything back since.

Hi
Yes I’ve received confirmation emails and my interview date is set. The contact email is from Linzi Jones, if you’ve been in touch with her?