Questions about driver duties

[AaronR]

Hi,

I have some questions about what a duty for a TOC will actually compile of, so for instance if you were a drier for GWR ex say Penzance or Exeter, would you take the train all the way to Paddington, have a break then return?

Or in the example of my local operator Greater Anglia, if you were on the intercity route and based say Ipswich, would you take the train to Norwich, then on to London and back? or is it split over the route?

sorry about the questions, just intrigued!

 

[Lrd]

All depots will work different parts of the networks and even different groups of drivers at the same depot will work over different areas. The newer drivers often getting the local stopping services and more experienced getting the better work.

Preston drivers for Virgin West Coast can know the whole WCML from London to Scotland but may only do a London and back. It all depends on the agreed hours they can work.

 

[Johncleesefan]

I imagine most depots to be the same but we have core routes for newer drivers. Meaning they have less route knowledge and less variety of work. Not always a bad thing though. Less competence to retain and when I was starter link there was no book on earlier than half 6. I didn't want out

 

[HLE]

Hi,

I have some questions about what a duty for a TOC will actually compile of, so for instance if you were a drier for GWR ex say Penzance or Exeter, would you take the train all the way to Paddington, have a break then return?

Or in the example of my local operator Greater Anglia, if you were on the intercity route and based say Ipswich, would you take the train to Norwich, then on to London and back? or is it split over the route?

sorry about the questions, just intrigued!

All depends on which link you are in.

Just to use your example - taking a guess that Ipswich sign the GEML, East Suffolk, Cambridge (unsure if it's just Colchester that sign Peterborough), Felixstowe and Harwich branches. Happy to be corrected on that list though, it's only a good guess.

But not all drivers will sign all routes. Some will be bread and butter for the whole depot (GEML) but some (Cambridge) would probably be 1 link only.

It literally

 

[bILLOO]

This is interesting! So, looking at GTR for example - Cricklewood and Hornsey depots seem to be taking on lots of trainees; does this mean these depots signed a limited number of routes compared to say, Bedford and Peterborough depots?

 

[306024]

Hi,

.........Or in the example of my local operator Greater Anglia, if you were on the intercity route and based say Ipswich, would you take the train to Norwich, then on to London and back? or is it split over the route?

sorry about the questions, just intrigued!

Taking your interest in GA, most InterCity trains between Norwich and Liverpool St are worked by Norwich crews, as that is where most of the stock starts and finishes. Liverpool St have the London end starts and finishes. Ipswich get a bit of a mix but work some trains between Norwich and London throughout. The Intercity work can be mixed with other work at all three depots within the same shift. Too many combinations to list, but if you are intrigued get a job as a train crew diagrammer and you could work the puzzle out for yourself

Incidentally Ipswich do sign Peterborough but only sign the Harwich branch as far as Harwich International. They also sign Norwich to Lowestoft. Only half the drivers sign electric traction and south of the tunnel though.

 

[AaronR]

Taking your interest in GA, most InterCity trains between Norwich and Liverpool St are worked by Norwich crews, as that is where most of the stock starts and finishes. Liverpool St have the London end starts and finishes. Ipswich get a bit of a mix but work some trains between Norwich and London throughout. The Intercity work can be mixed with other work at all three depots within the same shift. Too many combinations to list, but if you are intrigued get a job as a train crew diagrammer and you could work the puzzle out for yourself

Incidentally Ipswich do sign Peterborough but only sign the Harwich branch as far as Harwich International. They also sign Norwich to Lowestoft. Only half the drivers sign electric traction and south of the tunnel though.

Ah ok that's interesting, I though more intercity trains were stabled at Ipswich. Do the Ipswich based drivers sign the stopping services from Ips-Lst? it must be a fairly boring depot to work at just doing the rural stopping services.

Id love to get in the railways somehow.

 

[driver9000]

Even if you sign the full route all duties are different and some might take you all the way but others might see you going part of the way. I sign Manchester to Scotland but don't work the full circuit every day.

 

[AaronR]

Even if you sign the full route all duties are different and some might take you all the way but others might see you going part of the way. I sign Manchester to Scotland but don't work the full circuit every day.

Ah I see, may I ask what is an average day for you?

 

[driver9000]

Ah I see, may I ask what is an average day for you?

Depends on the day. Our duties are a mix of working a long distance ie a full circuit covering nearly 500 miles or bouncing into Manchester twice. Some days I might go to Carlisle twice or trundle around locally straying no further than 20-30 miles. We also have turns where I'm required to work trains for part of the day and then refresh local diversions. Add into the link spare turns and it becomes quite a mixed bag of train working, travelling passenger and route refreshing. Not bad for a small depot with a limited (but long) route card.

 

[tiptoptaff]

Depends on the day. Our duties are a mix of working a long distance ie a full circuit covering nearly 500 miles or bouncing into Manchester twice. Some days I might go to Carlisle twice or trundle around locally straying no further than 20-30 miles. We also have turns where I'm required to work trains for part of the day and then refresh local diversions. Add into the link spare turns and it becomes quite a mixed bag of train working, travelling passenger and route refreshing. Not bad for a small depot with a limited (but long) route card.

Out of interest, which TOC do you work for and where are you based?

 

[otomous]

Ah I see, may I ask what is an average day for you?

Life on the railway...no more average days

 

[bramling]

Hi,

I have some questions about what a duty for a TOC will actually compile of, so for instance if you were a drier for GWR ex say Penzance or Exeter, would you take the train all the way to Paddington, have a break then return?

Or in the example of my local operator Greater Anglia, if you were on the intercity route and based say Ipswich, would you take the train to Norwich, then on to London and back? or is it split over the route?

sorry about the questions, just intrigued!

Things vary according to how duties are laid out, so there's no single answer.

However the railway does have a liking for "out and back" where feasible, as this makes things easier to keep track of, and naturally returns the crew to the point of origin and/or allows any break to be taken at the home location, as well as meaning crews never get too far from their base. So a long service may well be split into two at the mid point, with one crew doing one end and another the other. However this is very simplistic, as things vary widely for very many reasons.

As an example, rather than working a service end to end, a crew might take over a service at the mid point, work to X and back, have a break, and then do same again. This avoids the service being delayed at terminus if late and the driver requires a break,plus also allows a short booked turnaround which is more efficient for the units - if less reliable for the service if a delay happens on route! Psychologically, in my experience most drivers prefer things to be broken up too. Gold standard way to annoy the spares is to give them a full duty when it could be broken up...

 

[306024]

Ah ok that's interesting, I though more intercity trains were stabled at Ipswich. Do the Ipswich based drivers sign the stopping services from Ips-Lst? it must be a fairly boring depot to work at just doing the rural stopping services.

Just the one IC set stabled there. Ipswich actually have quite a varied route card compared to some depots. They work few stopping trains to London however as they only know class 321 units, they don't drive class 360s.

You'll see an 8 car class 321 in the sidings at Ipswich at the weekend, that is worked in part by Ipswich drivers Monday to Friday, starting with the 06.00 Ipswich to Liverpool St in the morning, finishing with the 23.02 Liverpool St to Ipswich at the end of the day.