Where shall I move to??

[londonwall]

Hi,

I'm thinking of moving to south London in the hope of becoming a trainee train driver, but where should I go?

Most TOC's seem to want you within 30min of the depot, was also thinking of targetting SWT and Southern, so could go to;

Leatherhead area- within 30min of Woking, Guildford, Staines, strawberry hill and Wimbledon for SWT and Epsom, Redhill, Caterham and 3 bridges for Southern.

Or could move closer to the centre of London, around Brentford or Tooting for example which would put me closer to central London depots but further from Guildford, Redhill etc.

What do people think would be better...are there more likely to be jobs available in say Guildford or in Waterloo for SWT for example.

Thanks for any advice, much appreciated!!

 

[GriffoBrighton]

Im not too sure Londonwall but I think for London the commute is 60 or 90 minutes. It certainly seems to be the case with Southern for London depots.

 

[badassunicorn]

I would recommend applying for any vacancy that arises and be prepared to move as required

 

[TMLB UK]

Why don't you email all the TOCs and just inform them of your situation and ask what their recruitment plans are for 2013. There's no harm in being upfront and when I did this a few years back I got a very good and honest response back.

All the best, unfortunately I'm routed to the spot and just playing the waiting game.

 

[TheEdge]

I was lucky in this sense. If you are free to move don't move somewhere hoping the job turns up there. Stay where you are and apply for anything everywhere.

I did the same from rural Herefordshire and I now work as a guard for GA living in Norwich.

 

[Old-School]

Hi,

.... and Epsom, Redhill, Caterham and 3 bridges for Southern.

Or could move closer to the centre of London, around Brentford or Tooting for example which would put me closer to central London depots but further from Guildford, Redhill etc.

What do people think would be better...are there more likely to be jobs available in say Guildford or in Waterloo for SWT for example.

Thanks for any advice, much appreciated!!

Hi Londonwall,

As a Driver for Southern, I can advise that in regards to Epsom and Caterham Depots, these two are small depots with only about a dozen drivers at each and trainee driver vacancies are very seldom advertised, I haven't heard of any in the last 5 years for Epsom or Caterham.
For Redhill and Three Bridges Depots, I'm not too sure about, If you're looking to try Southern for a Trainee Drivers position, I would advise looking at London depots like Victoria, London Bridge, Selhurst or Norwood as these seem to be where most of the vacancies tend to be advertised.

Hope this is of some help to you.

 

[Class2ldn]

Didnt even know southern have a depot at epsom and I live near there lol. Currently at one of the other govia ventures and that would be a cracking move if I could get in but bet the waiting list is huge lol.

 

[Vicpaul]

Hi Londonwall,

As a Driver for Southern, I can advise that in regards to Epsom and Caterham Depots, these two are small depots with only about a dozen drivers at each and trainee driver vacancies are very seldom advertised, I haven't heard of any in the last 5 years for Epsom or Caterham.
For Redhill and Three Bridges Depots, I'm not too sure about, If you're looking to try Southern for a Trainee Drivers position, I would advise looking at London depots like Victoria, London Bridge, Selhurst or Norwood as these seem to be where most of the vacancies tend to be advertised.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Best advice there, as a qualified driver the waiting times for those depots are huge.

Vic, bridge, selhurst and Norwood are your best bet

 

[Latecomer]

South East London is a good call because in addition to Selhurst and Norwood you could also consider LOROL at New Cross Gate.

 

[londonwall]

lots of great info for me to mull over, thanks.

anyone know the best depots to be located near for SWT, would it be best to be in the waterloo, wimbledon, strawberry hill, staines area or are the depots around woking, guildford and farnham bigger/more jobs available?

out of SWT, southern and south eastern, what company is likely to recruit the most drivers.

thanks again for all the help, much appreciated!