These are tips you might already have heard from other people, but for error identification, work from right to left on each question as each button (or signal lever or whatever it is) can be overridden by a following one in the sequence.
For following and understating information, I was advised to read the whole passage first before looking at the questions, but on the day I ignored that. For understanding information especially, I found it hard to focus on the passages due to how technical they are, so I read the questions and then went and picked out key words which worked for me, managed to finish the majority of the questions in the time given.
For the SCAAT tests, it's all about practice, practice, practice. I think it's what most people fail on (I wasn't successful until my third time of trying). Don't rely on only the practice material that's in the email, get some printed off at work if you can, get a manager or someone at home to time you doing them. If you cross a symbol out in error and realise, don't waste time by going back to correct it, just carry on (I don't know if it's true but I was told that they don't deduct marks if you cross a symbol you shouldn't have, but they do deduct if you miss one of the symbols that you're looking for).
Thanks for the reply,
Would love to hear from a driver on an ATO line.
Would like to know if an ATO operator is an enjoyable / fulfilling position, compared to a manual driver?
Thanks
Hi, I was successful in the 2023 recruitment campaign and have been driving since the start of this year, after doing the classroom training towards the end of last year. Initially I was set on wanting a manual line, but ended up on the Northern (at the closest possible depot to where I live) and although I've not been driving for that long compared to the majority, I'm still loving it. I would say travel time is a more important factor and really makes a difference to me, as the earliest starts and latest finishes are more extreme than when I was working on stations in zone 1, and I've had a lot of shifts that are one extreme or the other.
You have to do a certain number of trips in both ATO and manual on each section of line whilst in training. Once you're passed out, you'll get to do some manual driving if you're bringing a train out of a depot or putting it away, which happens on a fair number of duties as you have trains that are just brought into service for peak periods as well as those that are out all day, and in open sections there are sometimes workers by the side of the track (clearing lineside vegetation, or taking a possession in a depot etc) and in these instances something called 'auto not permitted' (ANP) is put in place which forces you to drive manually to ensure vigilance.
One positive about being an ATO driver is that I don't have the worry about having a SPAD.
If you're set on being on a manual line, you do get the opportunity to trade depots within your training class, and there are bound to be people allocated to the Piccadilly. In my class of 10 people, four of them were going to the Picc.
