Operative, Off Track - Knottingley, Leeds

[Curtis]

Ok, so throughout my childhood my dream job was to be a police officer, however upon leaving education I ended up working as a roofer and gaining my roofing qualifications. An opporunity arose to apply to the police as a Special Constable, which I did alongside my roofing career and then eventually leaving the trade to take up a police civilian role, which I did for one year before becoming a PCSO - which is what I am still doing now.

5 years later and after much thought I've decided (like many others do), that a career in the police isn't for me any more and I fancy a change.

I applied for the recent role as Signaller (Knottingley), to be then told the vacancy was no longer available. Pretty gutted to be honest as it definitely seemed like something I would enjoy and feel as though I've gained many transferable skills from working in the police.
Then the other day whilst checking vacancies I came across "Operative [off track]", also at Knottingley. Another role which I actually quite like the sound of, so I applied and now need to do the online tests.


A couple of questions I have are:

1. What would you be expected to do in an average day as an operative, and is there much opporunity for progression? (Would skills gained from my roofing days be transferable to the role?)
   
2. Would this open doors for applying for internal Signaller roles? Or would this be frowned upon?

 

[The One]

Off track operative will do vegetation work cut back trees etc on the railway and also do things like lift road and foot crossings I’m sure if wrong I get corrected but there’s three grades on the rail maintenance which are the following

Operative
Technician
Team Leader

You usually start off as a Operative but yes you are allowed to apply for internal vacancies after you 6month probation

 

[Curtis]

Off track operative will do vegetation work cut back trees etc on the railway and also do things like lift road and foot crossings I’m sure if wrong I get corrected but there’s three grades on the rail maintenance which are the following

Operative
Technician
Team Leader

You usually start off as a Operative but yes you are allowed to apply for internal vacancies after you 6month probation

I'd be happy with that, is there much different in salary between the three grades do you know?

I'm going to complete my assessments tomorrow and we'll see where we go from there!

 

[class 9]

Off track operative will do vegetation work cut back trees etc on the railway and also do things like lift road and foot crossings I’m sure if wrong I get corrected but there’s three grades on the rail maintenance which are the following

Operative
Technician
Team Leader

You usually start off as a Operative but yes you are allowed to apply for internal vacancies after you 6month probation

Sorry, The One, your completely wrong. Vegetation clearance, work on crossings is definitely ON track.
An off track operative will probably not be passed in PTS (personal track safety) and I would imagine the role would include work at stations doing light maintenance tasks etc, away from the operational railway.

 

[Curtis]

Sorry, The One, your completely wrong. Vegetation clearance, work on crossings is definitely ON track.
An off track operative will probably not be passed in PTS (personal track safety) and I would imagine the role would include work at stations doing light maintenance tasks etc, away from the operational railway.

Now if this is correct then it definitely changes my view. The role is based at Knottingley, so surely there wouldn't be enough work to stay within the one station?

I'm going to do the online tests today, but may have to ring up tomorrow and see exactly what the role entails, as I wouldn't fancy "station maintenance" much.

 

[The One]

They call it Off Track but they work on track lol I know title don’t make sense but reason I know this is because friend of mine works in that department and they do all vegetation clearance etc on the track side The main thing is to get your foot in the door

 

[Rabbyboy]

The One, your right. Had interview for off track and you deal with de-vegetation, rail crossing, fences etc. Pretty much anything that guards the line from obstructions and safety.

 

[class 9]

Fair do’s, seems arse about face the title though

 

[Curtis]

I got to online assessment stage and then received an email a few days later stating a more suitable candidate was identified. Ahh well, back to keeping my focus on any signaller vacancies now!

Still - it's good to know what the off-track operative role entails for future reference!