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NorthernRail Trainee drivers 2013
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driver9000
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Carlisle is an East depot.
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There won't be many West Drivers who share the sentiment given the strength of the resistance put up when harmonisation was being attempted
I'd need to dig out a copy of the ATN conditions but I believe a first year Driver on the East receives a slightly lower rate than full salary until their first anniversary.
Beveridges
Established Member
Bet any new mainline drivers would - especially seeing how they could potentially be £27k worse off by year 3 on West than if they'd gone East.
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mr double 77
Member
Ive completed my application for the trainee train driver position at manchester, have still got too do my online visual test as long as i complete it by thursday job done hopefully my application will be strong enough all we can do is wait and see.
driver9000
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Can't say I've met any
Most appreciate that it's swings and roundabouts although they have a tiered pay scale their time off is regular always having 2 days together and the ability to not work a Sunday balances it out.Quite frankly i'd become a train driver for 15K so all this talk of extra cash is pointless to me. Also Sundays in or out, i'd work the hell out of them! sometimes i'm on here and I think that some established drivers have forgotten how good they have it.
Thanks again Beveridges, a lot of very useful info. I am interested in moving back home because that's where the majority of my family/friends are, but all those things definitely compound it. I guess it's the sort of thing I can ask at an interview. I don't wanna ruin my chances though since these positions don't come around that often; saying that I have to get an interview first! Leeds base I imagine still has the same traction variations as Blackpool? I presume the 158's would be based in York and Blackpool.
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I might not be a driver yet, but I think the pay they get is correct and for the right reasons. You should never sell yourself to a career for less than it's worth, even if it is your dream. It may sound great now but it could have long term implications in your future, and everybody else's.
My dream since childhood was to be an airline pilot and now due to dreamers and rich kids who can afford to work for nothing just to sit in the right hand seat of a shiny yet, an aspiring pilot has to stump up £~80k to be employed by a low cost airline on a zero hours contract at best! This involves paying for their own type ratings (certification to fly a certain type of aircraft, roughly 35k from a certain Irish airline who make money from the process) uniform and the other stuff you get for free if you work at Tesco! A zero hours contract in that industry means basically zero pay through the winter month too, whilst trying to pay back monthly loan repayments of around £1,200 if they were "lucky enough" to be able to get a loan against their parents house. It's now a job for those with mummy and daddy's money. Even worse are people who pay for a type rating and 500 hours! (I.e. paying to work!!)
Anyway, this is not meant to be harsh or pick you out (and obviously, I'm relatively new to this industry I just have an interest in big vehicles and a desire to earn a good living not sitting in an office, so I can't really comment), all I'm saying is if this is a life long dream to you (and it sounds like it is) at some point you need to pay the bills, at some point you'll need to retire, don't let any upper management get the wrong idea about what they should be paying you! I hope this comment is not too harsh or out of line, I'd just be upset to see a career I have an interest in go the same way my childhood dream went!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I might not be a driver yet, but I think the pay they get is correct and for the right reasons. You should never sell yourself to a career for less than it's worth, even if it is your dream. It may sound great now but it could have long term implications in your future, and everybody else's.
My dream since childhood was to be an airline pilot and now due to dreamers and rich kids who can afford to work for nothing just to sit in the right hand seat of a shiny yet, an aspiring pilot has to stump up £~80k to be employed by a low cost airline on a zero hours contract at best! This involves paying for their own type ratings (certification to fly a certain type of aircraft, roughly 35k from a certain Irish airline who make money from the process) uniform and the other stuff you get for free if you work at Tesco! A zero hours contract in that industry means basically zero pay through the winter month too, whilst trying to pay back monthly loan repayments of around £1,200 if they were "lucky enough" to be able to get a loan against their parents house. It's now a job for those with mummy and daddy's money. Even worse are people who pay for a type rating and 500 hours! (I.e. paying to work!!)
Anyway, this is not meant to be harsh or pick you out (and obviously, I'm relatively new to this industry I just have an interest in big vehicles and a desire to earn a good living not sitting in an office, so I can't really comment), all I'm saying is if this is a life long dream to you (and it sounds like it is) at some point you need to pay the bills, at some point you'll need to retire, don't let any upper management get the wrong idea about what they should be paying you! I hope this comment is not too harsh or out of line, I'd just be upset to see a career I have an interest in go the same way my childhood dream went!
driver9000
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There is more to life than money, I didn't join the railway for the money I joined because I wanted to be a Train Driver. That said some people do want to know about the wages and I that is fair enough if that is important to them - each to their own. Personally I work my booked Sundays plus extras now and then. A nice bit of overtime if I want it and time at home if I don't. Having the choice is one of the biggest differences between East and West within Northern. I've been on a good few years now and certainly haven't forgotten "how good I've got it". However that doesn't exclude me from commenting on such topics.
It is not my intention to get into a debate over this and that, I was correcting the errors in the information being given.
I was just feeling a little down with things, its a process and to hear people banging on about 34K this and 42K that kinda pees me off being as I work 65-70 hour weeks, never seeing my family for a job I get attacked at and verbally abused daily and I still earn less than 25K. ok, that's still fantastic money compared to a lot of people. I picked 15K out as I think that is the bare minimum I could live off and train driver as I would then be doing a job I would be happy at. My point was, i'd much rather be poor and happy than miserable and rich...... (woah, not saying anyone on 45K is miserable and rich) I think everyone applying for train driver will go through a certain set of emotions. these are mine. anyway, I think its the rosay talking so i'm going to just whimper away with my tail between my legs, sorry if I offended anyone. love you all really x
Not offended at all (I thought i'd done the offending!), money is not everything we just have to find the right balance! Anyway, good luck to you and everyone else with this, we'll need it!
driver9000
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No problem Sw1ller, it's a process we've all been through
It's worth it in the end, I came into this job not knowing about tiered pay scales or East,West whoever, I applied for the single goal of achieving the childhood dream of becoming a Driver. You have applied to earn that wage so it will naturally end up being mentioned. I know what it's like being stuck in a horrible job trying to get on the railway, the very best of luck to you. I hope to exchange a wave with you in the near future
It's worth it in the end, I came into this job not knowing about tiered pay scales or East,West whoever, I applied for the single goal of achieving the childhood dream of becoming a Driver. You have applied to earn that wage so it will naturally end up being mentioned. I know what it's like being stuck in a horrible job trying to get on the railway, the very best of luck to you. I hope to exchange a wave with you in the near future
Ha, thanks guys, I love everyone on here, if im successful it will be completely down to the advice ive received on here. nothing else I promise. the first time I posted on here I got a barrage over texts about my spelling, now I have improved massively and I wouldn't of even thought about it had it not been for this site. really love hearing about the success stories. gives us all hope
Silv1983
Member
Bev - I believe the East resent the West because they clung onto their Sundays off? Not sure the West hate the East because they have to work Sundays?!...
And until 10 or 15 years ago that is what you would of been paid then the unions got the money up and now every man and his dog wants to drive trains but how many will stay when the economy picks up and they can earn the same money working 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.
Beveridges
Established Member
You'd really do it for £15k do you really realise all the downsides to the job? The very early starts, the very late finishes, messed up sleeping pattern, the very long & difficult training and assessments, the monotony - some ML drivers are stuck on 2 routes and nothing else!, the amount of concentration needed, the amount of time sat down, the management giving you grief over anything, amount of hours spent driving in a row that can be over 4 hours solid (!), the quality of some of the rolling stock, very little overtime available, having to constantly make zero mistakes when working every day, and the fact you can end up in jail.
Also would you do it for £15k when you've got much easier, more relaxed jobs on the railway paying a lot more than that?
The pay ML Drivers get is certainly not too high compared to other jobs on the railway when you consider what you are being paid for. It would have to be more than what it is (West side) to make me want to leave my relatively comfortable/low stress job to go there.
It is not too high compared to jobs outside the railway either. Until the recession, people were typically getting more than that working 9-5 jobs. Yes railway jobs are finally paying better now than those, but isn't it about time the railway jobs had their turn of being better paid compared to other similarly skilled jobs outside the industry?
Also would you do it for £15k when you've got much easier, more relaxed jobs on the railway paying a lot more than that?
The pay ML Drivers get is certainly not too high compared to other jobs on the railway when you consider what you are being paid for. It would have to be more than what it is (West side) to make me want to leave my relatively comfortable/low stress job to go there.
It is not too high compared to jobs outside the railway either. Until the recession, people were typically getting more than that working 9-5 jobs. Yes railway jobs are finally paying better now than those, but isn't it about time the railway jobs had their turn of being better paid compared to other similarly skilled jobs outside the industry?
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Basically..... yes. I pretty much do all that now without the year long intense training. 4 and a half hours continuous driving, 45 min break, then back to driving for another 4.5 hours.... up and down the same motorway every day 6 days a week getting up at 3am one week then 1 pm the next, with dangerous goods or high security goods so possibility of jail is there if any mistakes are made getting 25K. I'm not interested in money at the end of the day, I just want to be happy in my work. That's my point. Anyway, I was slightly tipsy last night when I started typing this. so i'm sorry for that.
driver9000
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Beveridges
Established Member
Basically..... yes. I pretty much do all that now without the year long intense training. 4 and a half hours continuous driving, 45 min break, then back to driving for another 4.5 hours.... up and down the same motorway every day 6 days a week getting up at 3am one week then 1 pm the next, with dangerous goods or high security goods so possibility of jail is there if any mistakes are made getting 25K. I'm not interested in money at the end of the day, I just want to be happy in my work. That's my point. Anyway, I was slightly tipsy last night when I started typing this. so i'm sorry for that.
OK thats a reasonable point if the current job really is that bad & I did take the comment too seriously
doubleamber
Member
sidekick:1362807 said:
When I did my ppl there was 6 or 7 doing houring building on route to airline careers, I have seen a few of them since, out them only 2 got there dream jobs as airline jockeys, 1 is an instructor on 14k a year and the other 3 went back to their old jobs with massive debt, bit of a catch 22 really, do you keep throwing money to keep yourself current as your appling for jobs or give it up as a bad job with a massive debt,? At least your get paid to learn on the railways. And before anyone says the money is better, it's not for years, the average first office for a lo cost airline is on about 35k a year after 2 years. Of you make captain it goes up to around 65k
Hi to everyone, I've applied with Northern also. First applied in November last year for Skipton but never received the e-mail asking me to do the visual online so missed out on that.:roll:
Applied again a few weeks ago for Northern conductor, took the visual online this time and received an e-mail saying I had passed (57 and am sure all correct) but then got ditched at the sift.
I then applied for the Blackpool trainee drivers and whilst filling the application form I clicked outside the one hour drive limit by mistake and was then locked out from applying until the deadline passed.
I've now applied to Manchester and managed to get the application in, don't hold out much hope tbh the way my lucks been going whilst applying.:roll:
Applied again a few weeks ago for Northern conductor, took the visual online this time and received an e-mail saying I had passed (57 and am sure all correct) but then got ditched at the sift.
I then applied for the Blackpool trainee drivers and whilst filling the application form I clicked outside the one hour drive limit by mistake and was then locked out from applying until the deadline passed.
I've now applied to Manchester and managed to get the application in, don't hold out much hope tbh the way my lucks been going whilst applying.:roll:
Have you been asked to take the visual comparison test again? If you would have contacted HR with your problem on the Blackpool one, I'm sure they would have resolved it for you, they've always been quite helpful when I've contacted them in the past. Good luck.
They told me after I passed the visual online first time that I wouldn't need to take it again if I applied for other roles. And I did e-mail recruitment and spoke to their website techs but the problem couldn't be resolved in time before the deadline had passed.
That's good then, suppose we'll all have to sit tight and wait until the deadline passes. It's a shame they couldn't resolve the issue, I only brought it up as I had some trouble submitting a previous application and they were quick to respond, albeit I managed to get it through in the end without assistance.
Must admit they have been pretty much on the ball, when I didn't receive the e-mail for the Skipton job they checked back through their system and let me know that they had sent it, although at the time my daughter had been messing with my phone so she may have deleted the link ?? :roll:
Sunday_mornin
Member
When is the deadline for those that received the Visual Test?
I think that somebody mentioned Thursday.
Sunday_mornin
Member
Ta mate
Also Daniel, what stage are you at under "My Applications" on the Northern site? Still New Submitted Application?
I did email Northern last week to query the situation for those that have already passed the Visual Test, but predictably no response as yet. Can't be believe I'm back to obsessively checking my inbox multiple times a day.
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mr double 77
Member
It is thursday i was just about too ask when will we find out roughly after the closing date , if we have got further than the application sift as the waiting is killing me 
my app is quitestrong and got a good score on visual test so fingers crossed
my app is quitestrong and got a good score on visual test so fingers crossed
Sunday_mornin
Member
It is thursday i was just about too ask when will we find out roughly after the closing date , if we have got further than the application sift as the waiting is killing me
IIRC Northern will notify you if you have met required standard with regards the Visual Test, then it's onto the Sift. This can take a while, it certainly did for me last year, although popular knowledge is that the next course is due to start May/June. So Northern will have to move a little quicker this time round.
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