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Thameslink driver diagrams

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traingeek97

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Sorry if this has been discussed before but I'm wondering what a typical day would look like for a Thameslink driver based at Gillingham depot.

Would the same driver work the full service between Rainham and Luton or would they be relieved in London?

Would Gillingham drivers also only sign the Rainham to Luton route or would they end up working other routes too?

Thanks in advance.
 
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westcoaster

westcoaster

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traingeek97 said:
Sorry if this has been discussed before but I'm wondering what a typical day would look like for a Thameslink driver based at Gillingham depot.

Would the same driver work the full service between Rainham and Luton or would they be relieved in London?

Would Gillingham drivers also only sign the Rainham to Luton route or would they end up working other routes too?

Thanks in advance.
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Gillingham drivers sign Rainham to bedford via london bridge. Also several diversions in south east london ( via lewisham and slade green)

Gillingham depot
Cricklewood depot
Bedford carriage sidings.

Most work is on the rainham route to luton. But also several jobs a day to bedford on 12 car trains.
 
westcoaster

westcoaster

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Could be Gillingham- rainham- Luton- rainham- Gillingham

2x trips to London bridge/kentish town and back.

Gillingham- london bridge- Bedford- st albans- rainham-Gillingham.

Or a mixture of the above.
 
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387star

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I imagine such work to be absolutely exhausting

Constant stops on that route
 
Triumph

Triumph

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westcoaster said:
Gillingham drivers sign Rainham to bedford via london bridge. Also several diversions in south east london ( via lewisham and slade green)

Gillingham depot
Cricklewood depot
Bedford carriage sidings.

Most work is on the rainham route to luton. But also several jobs a day to bedford on 12 car trains.
Click to expand...
They don't have any workings into/from Cricklewood Depot or Bedford CS.
The only depots that work into/from Bedford & Cricklewood are:
Bedford
Cricklewood
St Albans
Luton
Orpington (Cricklewood only)

The Gillingham drivers only have 2 trips beyond Luton to Bedford working the 1219 & 1749 from Bedford as far as Luton (both 12 car workings).
 
whoosh

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A couple of their diagrams used to have route refresh via Bexleyheath in the middle - travelling in the cab of a Southeastern.
Crescent Road sidings at Luton was another route refresh placed in the middle of a job - presumably you'd walk that one.

Some diagrams took a train into Cricklewood sidings, as well.

One of the longer ones ended up at London Bridge, then pass to St Pancras, then pass on a Southeastern to Gillingham to finish within the maximum duty length.
 
Triumph

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Huckleberry said:
Gillingham does have two turns which berth units in Cricklewood and did have a job going into Bedford CS.
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They did have in the Dec 19 TT. They were the 0855/0925 ECS WHP-CWD, and the one BDM turn was at 1917 from North Sdg into the CS, however none of these run now.
I have just checked the CWN for last week and this week and they don't have any turns into Cricklewood or Bedford CS.
The COVID service is a modified Saturday service during the week at present, and a normal Saturday/Sunday service at weekends, which means when the full TT starts again, if they do have any booked turns they will need refreshers.
 
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Huckleberry

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Triumph said:
They did have in the Dec 19 TT. They were the 0855/0925 ECS WHP-CWD
Click to expand...
The May 20 TT has kept both of the above jobs, granted they are not currently running in the restricted timetable.

Triumph said:
if they do have any booked turns they will need refreshers.
Click to expand...
Route refresh days are built into the roster.

Although there is no longer a job into Bedford CS, it is still signed as a diversionary route.
 
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traingeek97

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Are there any other driver depots that only sign one route? Excluding the likes of Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted Express and c2c...
 
Galvanize

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traingeek97 said:
Are there any other driver depots that only sign one route? Excluding the likes of Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted Express and c2c...
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Drivers who work the Stansted Express aren’t dedicated to it, they are Greater Anglia Drivers based at Liverpool Street, Bishops Stortford and Cambridge. So they’ll do Stansted Express work, then they might do a trip to Cambridge or Hertford East as well.

As for drivers who sign just one route...you have to look at really isolated places on the UK rail network.
Wick at the top of the Far North Line in Scotland...all they do is Wick/Thurso to Inverness, and all they drive day in day out...Class 158s!
 
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OliverH68

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Isle of Wight too!

Also to add, Gatwick Express is driven by Southern drivers. I think there's a mix of work involved, so drive a Southern service, then Gatwick Express back. Correct me if I'm wrong...
 
Galvanize

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OliverH68 said:
Isle of Wight too!

Also to add, Gatwick Express is driven by Southern drivers. I think there's a mix of work involved, so drive a Southern service, then Gatwick Express back. Correct me if I'm wrong...
Click to expand...
Bit of both. There’s Gatwick Express Drivers based at London Victoria who only sign 387/2s and Victoria-Gatwick-Brighton plus Stewart’s Lane Depot and various diversionary routes. But they don’t sign anything else.

Then there’s some Southern Crews (Top Link at Selhurst, top two links at Brighton and possibly someone else) who sign 387/2s and either do Gatwick Express work along with Southern work, or they can be asked to cover a Gatwick Express duty. I suppose now that 387/2s get booked diagrammed work on the Victoria-Eastbourne-Ore services, more Drivers would be trained on them.

In the days of the Gatwick Express just running between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport during the day before the December 2015 change, it was known by the crews as “The Long Shunt” as they were just bouncing up and down between Victoria and Gatwick all day!
 
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Gathursty

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On the tangent of drivers just doing the same thing every day...
The Stourbridge Shuttle
Romford - Upminster
Barton Line

I'd say the rural Scottish and the lines like the Heart of Wales have the glorious views to counteract the repetitive nature.
 
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craigybagel

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Gathursty said:
On the tangent of drivers just doing the same thing every day...
The Stourbridge Shuttle
Romford - Upminster
Barton Line

I'd say the rural Scottish and the lines like the Heart of Wales have the glorious views to counteract the repetitive nature.
Click to expand...

AFAIK, only the Stourbridge shuttle of the 3 lines you mentioned is worked by drivers who don't work any other routes (as they work for a separate company subcontracted out to West Midlands Trains. They do get a bit of variety though in that they work both as conductors and drivers, and swap roles during the day.
 
mwest123

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Gathursty said:
On the tangent of drivers just doing the same thing every day...
The Stourbridge Shuttle
Romford - Upminster
Barton Line

I'd say the rural Scottish and the lines like the Heart of Wales have the glorious views to counteract the repetitive nature.
Click to expand...
The Romford to Upminster line is worked by TfL Rail drivers based at Ilford EMUD. They also sign routes west of London as well as TfL Rail and the Romford-Upminster shuttle
 
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clagmonster

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Gathursty said:
On the tangent of drivers just doing the same thing every day...
The Stourbridge Shuttle
Romford - Upminster
Barton Line

I'd say the rural Scottish and the lines like the Heart of Wales have the glorious views to counteract the repetitive nature.
Click to expand...
Barton is worked by TPE drivers and guards based at Cleethorpes. The vast majority, if not all, turns that include Barton are either a Sheffield and two Bartons or in the case of the guards a Manchester and a Barton.
 
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craigybagel

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clagmonster said:
Barton is worked by TPE drivers and guards based at Cleethorpes. The vast majority, if not all, turns that include Barton are either a Sheffield and two Bartons or in the case of the guards a Manchester and a Barton.
Click to expand...
Do Cleethorpes drivers to go Manchester? I thought they only went as far as Sheffield but on the driver route knowledge thread someone said they went to Manchester so that's what I've included there.
 
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clagmonster

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As far as I know the drivers only go to Sheff but I have heard murmerings of them learning Manc. The guards go all the way to the Airport.
 
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