Length of training for trainee driver

[ItchyRsole]

I know things change and a lot comes down to DI availability etc but what is the standard length of a trainee driver course?

A former colleague of mine went to MTR & passed out in 11 months. I’ve heard of others taking 18 months at Thameslink

That’s a big swing.

If the DI’s were available and no untoward scenarios were presented what time frame should a trainee be passing out in?

Thanks

 

[baz962]

I know things change and a lot comes down to DI availability etc but what is the standard length of a trainee driver course?

A former colleague of mine went to MTR & passed out in 11 months. I’ve heard of others taking 18 months at Thameslink

That’s a big swing.

If the DI’s were available and no untoward scenarios were presented what time frame should a trainee be passing out in?

Thanks

Well I took eight months ish . I think the average should be a year. It's not just Di availability, but how many different traction types you will sign and how many or how long the routes are.

 

[Horizon22]

The length recently has been much longer than usual due to Covid suspending a lot of training, and DI availability. The generally stated time is normally 12 months.

 

[iphone76]

MTR has a lot of instructors. At my depot 25% are, and I believe other depots have a higher proportion. They also used the COVID bubble scheme so training was only briefly paused.

So much training currently going on with East drivers learning the west route and vice versa. They are definitely needed.

 

[LRV3004]

I think it varies from company to company and depending on the depot. I’m currently in training and expect to be “passed out” in September which means it would have been a year for me. However a guy on the same course as me is already passed out as he is at a smaller depot, only had to learn two routes and got his handling hours accumulated rather quickly as the turns he did were all massive length turns.

 

[Craig Stephens]

I started in March 2020 and just passed my part 2 sim final today. I have my part 3 driving final on Wednesday. We started with 5 types of traction, now down to 4 due to retirement of 456.

The extended length of time is 80% down to covid, and like previous posts state, DI availability, which covid also impacted. I still have route learning to get past with 13 separate routes to learn. We are given 51 days for this.

Typically in a normal environment it would take 12-18 months depending on depot and types of traction.

 

[43066]

I know things change and a lot comes down to DI availability etc but what is the standard length of a trainee driver course?

A former colleague of mine went to MTR & passed out in 11 months. I’ve heard of others taking 18 months at Thameslink

That’s a big swing.

If the DI’s were available and no untoward scenarios were presented what time frame should a trainee be passing out in?

Thanks

I was 13 months, including a three month wait for a DI. My course mates ranged from 12 months to 18 months depending on depot/routes/instructors etc.

GTR did seem to be very slow but (at least used to) pay full wages after a set period regardless of whether you’d passed out, which takes some of the pressure off for those who took a pay cut to train.