• Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Join LU/TFL as a Train Driver externally?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ciel

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2015
Messages
61
Hi.

I was wondering, is it possible to join London Underground/Transport for London as a Train Driver without being part of the organisation to begin with? Or are all train driver posts recruited internally?

Thanks.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Ciel

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2015
Messages
61
Haven't recruited externally since 2001 I believe everything is done internally

I thought as much.

Do you know what roles are recruited externally then? Customer service in ticket booths?
 

Tubeboy

Member
Joined
9 May 2009
Messages
486
Location
London
They are recruiting for CSAs externally now. Just google tfl jobs. If you're lucky, you might get a driver role within a year.
 

Ciel

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2015
Messages
61
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=122304

Most Train Operators are recruited from the CSA grade.

They are recruiting for CSAs externally now. Just google tfl jobs. If you're lucky, you might get a driver role within a year.

Thanks - I've actually seen that, which is what brought about the thought of joining LU as a Train Driver! :)

The issue with that post is that it's a fixed term contract, up to 12 months. At the moment, I have a well paying, stable, permanent job. With a mortgage and dependents, I can't afford the financially insecure position of a fixed term. :(

Still, it's good to know that non-train driver posts are posted externally.
 

HMS Ark Royal

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2015
Messages
2,798
Location
Hull
Haven't recruited externally since 2001 I believe everything is done internally

Surely that is incorrect... In the documentary/reality series "The Tube" which was set in 2005 they showed a female driver who had been recruited as part of an external advert in Cosmo magazine!
 

455driver

Veteran Member
Joined
10 May 2010
Messages
11,329
Surely that is incorrect... In the documentary/reality series "The Tube" which was set in 2005 they showed a female driver who had been recruited as part of an external advert in Cosmo magazine!

That is because they were actively recruiting Women, it wasn't open to men!
Don't you just love equal rights! :roll:
 

HMS Ark Royal

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2015
Messages
2,798
Location
Hull
But it was external - so Aivilo's statement is incorrect, albeit on a technicality
 

Aivilo

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2014
Messages
646
Location
Surrey
But it was external - so Aivilo's statement is incorrect, albeit on a technicality

You are correct, they were advertising for females as late as 2009 in certain women's magazine's.

Couldn't say in 14 year's I've met one that came into the grade that way.
 

whoosh

Established Member
Joined
3 Sep 2008
Messages
1,888
I'm sure I read somewhere that some women who read the Cosmopolitan advert, instead of applying themselves, told their Husbands about the vacancy!


I'm also sure I read that the external recruitment wasn't as successful as hoped. Some applicants didn't appreciate the unsocial hours involved, the responsibilities, the intense training and 'underpinning knowledge' of traction and rules and procedures involved, and either didn't pass the course or didn't last long in the rôle.

There are plenty of women tube drivers, by the way, probably more than other railway companies, but recruiting internally from people already on the Tube and clued up on some rules and procedures and accustomed to shift work already, seems to be how they do it these days.
Used to be promoted from Guards years ago, but when the Guards rôle was done away with I suppose they thought they'd try externally, but met with mixed results!
 

Aivilo

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2014
Messages
646
Location
Surrey
More then likely, however the progression system works quite well so no doubt she has moved on.
 

Nic nic

Member
Joined
29 Jun 2014
Messages
126
If it is the woman I saw on that program I would hope not. The episode I saw she had left the platform on a red light which applied the brakes for her. The film crew where filming her just afterwards and she said that it "happens" just like she said in her old job as a bus driver hitting other vehicles also "happens". Maybe I am being nieve as to how public transport works but if one of my HGV drivers had that attitude they wouldn't last long in the job.
 

HMS Ark Royal

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2015
Messages
2,798
Location
Hull
If it is the woman I saw on that program I would hope not. The episode I saw she had left the platform on a red light which applied the brakes for her. The film crew where filming her just afterwards and she said that it "happens" just like she said in her old job as a bus driver hitting other vehicles also "happens". Maybe I am being nieve as to how public transport works but if one of my HGV drivers had that attitude they wouldn't last long in the job.

Same episode, Nic Nic, but the other driver - the one called Jo. That Miranda woman should have been dismissed as she felt it okay to SPAD as it was "better then hitting someone" and seemed completely uninterested in the video she had to watch

Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yrlAs_lEas

Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YveW9CxKMI
 

notadriver

Established Member
Joined
1 Oct 2010
Messages
3,737
If it is the woman I saw on that program I would hope not. The episode I saw she had left the platform on a red light which applied the brakes for her. The film crew where filming her just afterwards and she said that it "happens" just like she said in her old job as a bus driver hitting other vehicles also "happens". Maybe I am being nieve as to how public transport works but if one of my HGV drivers had that attitude they wouldn't last long in the job.

I'm surprised that a signal passed at danger by a train driver on TV is taken so casually. Maybe the the rules are different on LU.

The training and attitude to safety of train drivers generally is much higher then pcv or hgv drivers by some margin. Hgv drivers hit bridges every day for example.
 

Met Driver

Established Member
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Messages
1,734
I'm surprised that a signal passed at danger by a train driver on TV is taken so casually. Maybe the the rules are different on LU.

The training and attitude to safety of train drivers generally is much higher then pcv or hgv drivers by some margin. Hgv drivers hit bridges every day for example.

Not exactly a poster girl for professionalism, but bear in mind that footage is over 12 years old now.

In the past (10+ years ago) SPADs on LUL were not necessarily treated as seriously as they are on other railway networks, but the tripcock system combined with overlaps tailored to the speed and braking capacity of trains operating through a given area, means it was and still is extremely unlikely that a SPAD will result in a collision (unlike on Network Rail). The risk is virtually nil on the ATC fitted lines.

Nowadays it's very much a disciplinary issue however and being involved in a certain number in a certain length of time can lead to demotion or dismissal.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top