The shifts & weekends aren’t the issue for me and I don’t expect to be treated differently but knowing when I’m working in a reasonable amount of time is important. 6 months of rosters would be great. I suppose most people who don’t have kids, don’t want schools holidays off though so are always willing to swap?
Rosters typically run May to December and December to May, so in May you'll know your days off and most shifts for six months. Things to note about that though:
The May starting roster might not be received until March/April, and likewise the December roster might not be received until October/November. So while the roster is valid for six months when you first get it, it's not a rolling six months in advance. As your rest day pattern can be changed at roster changes, you will get round to March/April and not yet know for certain what your days off will be over the Summer, and likewise you will get to October/November and still not be able to 100% guarantee what your days off around Christmas will be. Even where the rest day pattern stays the same going into the next roster period, shifts themselves often change and therefore move around, so a week of predicted earlies around Christmas could become a week of lates with not a massive amount of notice, for example.
A week of a particular shift type isn't a steady 0500-1400 all week. It will often look more like: Monday 0612-1531, Tuesday 0405-1257, Wednesday 0357-1147, Thursday 0600-1430.
That Thursday above might be a 'Spare', which means you can be moved +/- 2/3 hours and have the shift lengthened as enforced overtime (varies between company). You will typically have one or two of these a week and these are used to cover annual leave, sickness, etc. Typically you will only have 36-48 hours notice, so it will only be sometime on Tuesday when the 'daily amendment sheets' are published that you will find out what you have been moved to on Thursday. So with a +/- 3 hours movement, your Thursday will likely therefore go from your 0600-1430 'Spare' to potentially a 0315-1207 job or completely the other way to a 0900-1823 job.
Weekends are often when engineering work occurs and as a result with lines closed/reduced in capacity, some/most/all jobs will be cancelled and reissued taking into account what is open. Your rostered timings/hours can therefore be essentially ignored to an extent as if your booked duty took you into those works it's not always a case that some trains in your shift will be cancelled. You will likely get an amended/special job with different start/finish times and potentially also increased in length as enforced overtime. So your lunchtime finish Saturday may well become, say, a 1500 one. Such changes can also occur to cater for large events where extra trains are run/services amended, for example horse racing at some racecourses, important sporting fixtures at key stadiums, key events such as large festivals, etc.
Public Holidays and the like are normal working days, so if you are rostered to be a 0327 start on New Years Day then that will still be the time you are expected at work, even though the train service usually starts up later than a normal weekday on Public Holidays. Because the train service will typically run to a weekend timetable on Public Holidays, you become 'Spare' and won't know until that two or so days before what you have picked up. So the roster might have you as a nice short and early finishing rostered 0447-1212 job that Monday, but you will likely be moved to something resembling a Saturday turn that day, so probably on Friday you will find out your Bank Holiday Monday job has changed from 0447-1212 to 0602-1527. Bang go any family Bank Holiday Monday afternoon plans, with only two days notice!
Similar to the above, the week between Christmas and New Year will often be a Saturday timetable, so you can essentially ignore your roster that week and you will likely be moved to different start and finish times every day.
While there are of course drivers who don't have kids so will likely want to swap if they get allocated leave during school holidays, there are plenty of drivers who will want their school holidays. Therefore those drivers wanting to swap out of school holidays can afford to pick and choose who they swap with. If your rostered Summer leave is two weeks in October, then you're likely to be an unlikely choice and might struggle to swap that, as they're probably more likely to choose to swap with someone with May/June/September allocated weeks.
I've lost count of how many colleagues have gone through break ups and divorces. That said, some do make it work. I guess it all depends how you think you and your partner would deal with the above changes, which include many instances of where your six month long roster will regularly change with as little as 36-48 hours notice - not just the 'spares', but particularly also what you think are 'safe' rostered jobs on weekends and bank holidays when engineering works/special events occur etc. You will likely have to miss things such as school plays, parents evenings, sports days etc. Days off at weekends can be hard to get at short notice, as to keep trains running there is a quota of how many people can have a day off, so they do get booked up. First come first serve. In my experience it's highly unlikely that you will be able to see the weather forecast in the summer and then apply to use an ad-hoc day to get that next Saturday off to go on a family day out, as it will likely be booked up in advance as a matter of course.
