Jobs with East Coast

[kleb15]

Just curious to know, as that line is still ran by the government, do they ever employ any new staff, i never seem to see any updates for anything on their website, just wondering do they get all their drivers internally or something?

 

[RJ]

I have seen vacancies crop up every now and again on their website. None have been for drivers though. I have seen recruitment drives for drivers elsewhere though, in newspapers and railway magazines.

 

[kleb15]

Ok, thanks a lot RJ, just cos i'm in York at the moment, and i'm not sure if they have a depot here but loads of East Coast trains operate out of York. What magazines/newspapers did you see it in? And do the do all their applications for drivers written still then instead of over the internet like most companies?

 

[ainsworth74]

Just something to keep in mind, if you're not already qualified then you won't be able to apply for any drivers jobs on East Coast as they're the kind of TOC that only advertises for current drivers. Apologies if you are already a driver on the TOC/FOC but otherwise I doubt you'd be able to walk in off the street with a TOC like East Coast due to them rarely (if ever) taking on trainees.

 

[kleb15]

Just something to keep in mind, if you're not already qualified then you won't be able to apply for any drivers jobs on East Coast as they're the kind of TOC that only advertises for current drivers. Apologies if you are already a driver on the TOC/FOC but otherwise I doubt you'd be able to walk in off the street with a TOC like East Coast due to them rarely (if ever) taking on trainees.

Oh right, to be honest that was pretty much what i was wondering, so thanks for that, why is that? Is it just because they're an intercity company, cos Virgin and Arriva crosscountry don't take on trainees either do they?

 

[ainsworth74]

why is that? Is it just because they're an intercity company, cos Virgin and Arriva crosscountry don't take on trainees either do they?

Basically that. Because they're intercity TOCs they pay just about the highest wages meaning that it's fairly easy for them to attract applicants from within the industry. Northern, TPE, and FCC drivers, for example, I'm sure will apply for driving jobs with East Coast because EC will probably pay more than their current TOCs ever will (and I'm sure driving the likes of HSTs and IC225s hold more appeal than driving a Pacer ). So with that in mind, why would you go the difficulty/expense of finding people of the street and then training them, when you can get people already trained (who just needing traction and route knowledge).

 

[kleb15]

Basically that. Because they're intercity TOCs they pay just about the highest wages meaning that it's fairly easy for them to attract applicants from within the industry. Northern, TPE, and FCC drivers, for example, I'm sure will apply for driving jobs with East Coast because EC will probably pay more than their current TOCs ever will (and I'm sure driving the likes of HSTs and IC225s hold more appeal than driving a Pacer ). So with that in mind, why would you go the difficulty/expense of finding people of the street and then training them, when you can get people already trained (who just needing traction and route knowledge).

Ye fair point, and that was the main reason I was curious actually was because they use those Intercity units still and I think they're well class, pretty nifty for the size of them and considering how old they are. Well i've applied to FTPE before and been rejected applied to Northern now, probably won't get through, but just have to keep plugging away applying and maybe one day i'll get thorugh

 

[E&W Lucas]

Ok, thanks a lot RJ, just cos i'm in York at the moment, and i'm not sure if they have a depot here but loads of East Coast trains operate out of York. What magazines/newspapers did you see it in? And do the do all their applications for drivers written still then instead of over the internet like most companies?

The only EC staff at York are the station team. Other than head office/ control functions of course. Worth submitting a speculative CV, if that type of work interests you.

Sources tell me that there hasn't been a trainee driver on the ECML for about 2 -3 years. As indicated by others above, the likes of EastCoast and Virgin WC have the pick of the qualified driver market.