First day doing new Job today as Train driver today. Follow your dreams!

Congrats. I found it a decent read, must be a great feeling for you.
Best of luck with your career.
 
good read - I know people are whinging about it being too long, but honestly its got a decent level of detail, well written and engaging :)

Good luck tonight, and congratulations, sounds like an epic battle to get there! Let us know how it goes!
 
geekman said:
Very interesting - really enjoyed reading that.

Am I correct in thinking that unless something goes wrong, there's not actually much you have to do when driving the train, or is it more complex than I assume?
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Pretty much. It's all route knowledge, knowing when to start braking and how to adjust it depending on conditions. The main part is retaining all that knowledge and not losing concentration. That said, my current role has a lot more to it. I have to plan where to put all the trains at night and which services they will go on in the morning, allowing for those which need to go on maintence and certain units that cannot work together.. it's like a big puzzle and where you earn the money... most of the time it's a lot of sitting about.

My manager told me it's one of the hardest jobs to get but the easiest to lose.
A new depot driver who passed out just before me has lost his job only the other day due to passing a signal at danger and trying to cover it up. That's the scary thing about the job if you mess up, it usually has big consequences.
 
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£25,803 for depot driver
£44k something for mainline driver
(Not including Sundays which you are rostered but can opt out of. They're overtime. Also when things go wrong they tend to offer you obscene overtime rates to stay a few hours or come in another day which is attractive).
Another thing that makes it attractive is on this region we get 8 weeks on then 2 weeks off.

Its an extremely attractive job for people off the street because you don't need qualifications and for a lot of people it'll be the best they'l earn without going to university.

The reason its hard to get into is because of the safety aspects and massive numbers apply for the jobs so they can be picky and get the best possible.
 
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Well done David.
I honestly had no idea it was such a complicated process, although I suppose I'd also never really thought about it either.
It's always nice to read a story that turns out well and does show that hard work and perseverance pays off.
All the best in your new career.
 
Great stuff and an interesting read, too. To those who can't spare 4 minutes to read something worthwhile, perhaps you should as not only is TLDR as a response unfunny and unhelpful, it is or at least was probatable.

Anyway, good to hear someone on here taking the time to describe something big in their lives. Makes a nice change :)
 
Wow, that sounds really good and you've done well. It's something I've always fancied doing although I think the most they would let me do is pick up the litter and discarded copies of the Metro at the end of the line!
 
As a commuter on the line you're working on, please stop in the right position :D Blooming annoying having to shuffle down in the mornings!

And congrats! Do they do anything to prepare you with the (as I understand it) inevitable fatality?
 
Acme said:
That post... My god... Even the TL;DR section is borderline TL;DR.

How many words can you use to say:

"wanted to be a train driver since I was a kid, didn't know how to become one, stuff happened which made me sad, did some stuff to get some certificates, became a train driver, now im happy"

:confused: ?? :p
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Better than your drivel about cars. :p
 
[FnG]magnolia;26685954 said:
Great stuff and an interesting read, too. To those who can't spare 4 minutes to read something worthwhile, perhaps you should as not only is TLDR as a response unfunny and unhelpful, it is or at least was probatable.

Anyway, good to hear someone on here taking the time to describe something big in their lives. Makes a nice change :)
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TLDR
 
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