London Underground - CSA1 / CSA2 - Recruitment and Discussion

[cid291]

Nah I start at 6th April

When did you do your OH?

 

[Zb0905]

1

When did you do your OH?

14th Jan

 

[itsm4]

Hope someone can clear this up:

As a CSA1 Night tube starting soon will I be allowed to take up overtime during day time shifts?
I ideally would like to do full time but they didn’t let me switch to the CSA2 full time campaign so I’m hoping to take on more work as 15 hours a week just isn’t enough.

Was hoping if anyone could shed any light on this?
Need to decide if I should leave my current job or not

 

[bluegoblin7]

Was hoping if anyone could shed any light on this?
Need to decide if I should leave my current job or not

You are able to cover day OT shifts but it certainly won’t be enough to top up to a full time salary. There are also strict rules around fatigue management and sharing of overtime, and CSA1 NT will be near the bottom of the list for the latter.

I’m not surprised at not being able to switch campaigns as they are completely different - if a part time night shift job isn’t for you then it probably isn’t something to apply for in the first place. By definition it is less attractive than CSA2, and it wouldn’t be fair to effectively let people jump the queue by moving.

 

[cid291]

Does anyone know if csa2 workers work 7 days in a row and then 2 days off?

I’ve seen a few rotas posted online by tfl and each showed 7 shifts in a row but they’re a few years old.

 

[Mawkie]

Does anyone know if csa2 workers work 7 days in a row and then 2 days off?

I’ve seen a few rotas posted online by tfl and each showed 7 shifts in a row but they’re a few years old.

Not necessarily. Split rest days are common, and 7 days are common too. If I recall correctly (and I may not) station staff can work a maximum of 8 days without a rest day.

Rosters come and go, but don't really fundamentally change. They are different for every station/group, with different earliest start and end times.

If you look at Holborn in this FOI pdf you see a 4 week CSA2 roster with 2 days together, split rest days, and 7 consecutive working days. The pay off for those 7 days is a long weekend every 4 weeks!


(Picture shows a 4 line CSA2 roster for Holborn illustrating working times and rest days.)

This is the FOI of Stations Framework agreement which gives more specific information for all station staff regarding the various parameters of working life on LU.

 

[Von11]

Hey hey everyone, I’m so glad we have this thread to keep us the loop!
So I got my conditional offer on the 7th November and I completed my Reed docs back in the first week of January. I think it was the 21st Jan when they emailed me an update.

But reading what some of you guys have put, my screening portal still hasn’t ticked all the sections needed - it’s only checked the first two. I gave a call to Reed about a month ago and they couldn’t tell me anything other than they will go in order of date or something like that.
So no sign of when this will be completed or when I can get the OH appointment.
Not sure what I can do other than just wait patiently. I’m so excited to get started!

 

[Queenie]

As of today no more station swaps allowed during training… you get what you’re given

 

[aimee723]

As of today no more station swaps allowed during training… you get what you’re given

No way. Have u started training now? How’s it going

 

[Zb0905]

As of today no more station swaps allowed during training… you get what you’re given

Seriously?

 

[itsm4]

You are able to cover day OT shifts but it certainly won’t be enough to top up to a full time salary. There are also strict rules around fatigue management and sharing of overtime, and CSA1 NT will be near the bottom of the list for the latter.

I’m not surprised at not being able to switch campaigns as they are completely different - if a part time night shift job isn’t for you then it probably isn’t something to apply for in the first place. By definition it is less attractive than CSA2, and it wouldn’t be fair to effectively let people jump the queue by moving.

Much appreciated.

I was initially recommended by someone to apply for the night tube position for whatever reason but hopefully down the line can switch to a full time position

 

[bluegoblin7]

Once qualified you will be able to nominate for a full time role and location, although there can be some wait for this.

 

[GoldenChef]

As of today no more station swaps allowed during training… you get what you’re given

noooo!!! wonder what the reasoning behind this is.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2026 ==

Hey hey everyone, I’m so glad we have this thread to keep us the loop!
So I got my conditional offer on the 7th November and I completed my Reed docs back in the first week of January. I think it was the 21st Jan when they emailed me an update.

But reading what some of you guys have put, my screening portal still hasn’t ticked all the sections needed - it’s only checked the first two. I gave a call to Reed about a month ago and they couldn’t tell me anything other than they will go in order of date or something like that.
So no sign of when this will be completed or when I can get the OH appointment.
Not sure what I can do other than just wait patiently. I’m so excited to get started!

you might need to follow it up with reed, my screening took 2 weeks, with me nudging it along. eg, my reference gave the wrong dates so they had to check with me over the phone.

 

[hydroman]

Anyone know how long we get paid 80% of salary? Is it full 6 months or just the first month till you pass exams?

 

[Zb0905]

Anyone know how long we get paid 80% of salary? Is it full 6 months or just the first month till you pass exams?

Till you pass training

 

[jimmycconway]

Anyone know how long we get paid 80% of salary? Is it full 6 months or just the first month till you pass exams?

The first pay is 80% of your overall salary, as you're in training. After that it's full pay

 

[bluegoblin7]

The first pay is 80% of your overall salary, as you're in training. After that it's full pay

Well no, not necessarily - your first pay cycle could fall halfway through training, or a week after with how the cut offs work.

As explained already, you will be paid training rate until you qualify at your station - this should be about 4 weeks but may by exception be slightly longer.

LUL pay cycles are 4 weekly, with the cut offs the Wednesday before. For operations, the next few pay days are 1st April, 29 April and 27 May.

 

[jimmycconway]

Well no, not necessarily - your first pay cycle could fall halfway through training, or a week after with how the cut offs work.

As explained already, you will be paid training rate until you qualify at your station - this should be about 4 weeks but may by exception be slightly longer.

LUL pay cycles are 4 weekly, with the cut offs the Wednesday before. For operations, the next few pay days are 1st April, 29 April and 27 May.

Fair enough. I've been told by most CSAs I've spoken to that it's the first pay which would last during training and that's all. I haven't spoken to anybody who's training lasted longer than 4 weeks so I didn't expect any different to be honest. Thanks for the pointer.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Using the dates above, if you started w/c 15th March (ie this Sunday), your first pay day would be 1st April. This would only cover shifts worked to the 4th April (pay is in arrears, except for pay day week where it is assumed you will work the remainder of the week), which is only three weeks.

Your following pay cycle would have one week of training wage and the remainder, assuming you qualified, at full salary.

I appreciate it’s quite niggly but it is important to have clarity here for new starters!

 

[Zb0905]

Does anyone know when your get your final contract ?

 

[aimee723]

Using the dates above, if you started w/c 15th March (ie this Sunday), your first pay day would be 1st April. This would only cover shifts worked to the 4th April (pay is in arrears, except for pay day week where it is assumed you will work the remainder of the week), which is only three weeks.

Your following pay cycle would have one week of training wage and the remainder, assuming you qualified, at full salary.

I appreciate it’s quite niggly but it is important to have clarity here for new starters!

Thank you that’s good to know

 

[dominoheart]

Hey all, I am about to start training at the end of next month and I was wondering if there was any advice on what to prepare for/ expect as I have heard there’s exams 80% pass mark etc

 

[bluegoblin7]

The exams are multiple choice and you’ll be taught everything you need to know during the training - there isn’t much preparation that can be done ahead of time. Go in willing to learn, apply yourself and ask questions of anything you don’t understand and you’ll be fine.

 

[Mawkie]

Excellent advice from @bluegoblin7 as always.

I would add, the learning can be quite intense, so if you get to go home early, have a sit down and something to eat, then have an hour looking through your training materials to cement the day's learning.

 

[Zb0905]

Excellent advice from @bluegoblin7 as always.

I would add, the learning can be quite intense, so if you get to go home early, have a sit down and something to eat, then have an hour looking through your training materials to cement the day's learning.

Is everything on the iPad ?

 

[cid291]

Hey all, I am about to start training at the end of next month and I was wondering if there was any advice on what to prepare for/ expect as I have heard there’s exams 80% pass mark etc

When did you do your OH? and when were you given a training date?

 

[dominoheart]

The exams are multiple choice and you’ll be taught everything you need to know during the training - there isn’t much preparation that can be done ahead of time. Go in willing to learn, apply yourself and ask questions of anything you don’t understand and you’ll be fine.

Thanks so much

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2026 ==

Excellent advice from @bluegoblin7 as always.

I would add, the learning can be quite intense, so if you get to go home early, have a sit down and something to eat, then have an hour looking through your training materials to cement the day's learning.

Will deffo keep this in mind thankyou

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2026 ==

When did you do your OH? and when were you given a training date?

I did OH last week of Jan, then got an email the week after that there were training dates available. I called and got the end of April for the start date.

 

[Mawkie]

Is everything on the iPad ?

Lol, as if I know! Certainly the rule books and access to Sharepoint will be on the iPad.

I doubt the training materials are on the iPad, but I'm sure a recent trainee will know more?

 

[Von11]

noooo!!! wonder what the reasoning behind this is.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2026 ==


you might need to follow it up with reed, my screening took 2 weeks, with me nudging it along. eg, my reference gave the wrong dates so they had to check with me over the phone.

Thanks for this - I just gave them a call and they said that they have started the quality assurance checks just yet. It’s just moving a bit slower I guess.

 

[GoldenChef]

Thanks for this - I just gave them a call and they said that they have started the quality assurance checks just yet. It’s just moving a bit slower I guess.

I think that might be the last bit to be fair.