This is a blog written by a new recruit to ‘One’ railways in West Anglia (now National Express East Anglia) who joined the railway in March 2005 after several years in other jobs. The experiences are typical of what can be expected at a passenger TOC and cover his experiences from interview to passing out nearly a year later, then his first few months as a qualified driver. It was written both to illustrate the training process and to provide information and encouragement to other trainees and people considering train driving as a career.
Many thanks to the author for allowing me to display this blog.
UPDATE: As of 2016, this blog now also includes the latest industry news and free advice for those wanting to get into the rail industry.The last entry from the trainee train driver training series can be found here: http://www.traindriver.org/springwatch/ We have 100s of insightful posts!
The loneliness of the DOO driver
Well folks, I survived my first solo turn. It was a bit weird being in the cab all on my own. I found that I kept looking over to the secondman’s seat expecting a comment or remark only to find it empty. It wasn’t just the cab that seemed empty, as the messrooms had a … Continue reading The loneliness of the DOO driver
The chequered flag
Today is the day that I have been waiting for. A little over ten months ago I walked in off the street knowing absolutely nothing about what being a train driver involved. At every stage along the way I was sure they would tell me that I wasn’t good enough to make the grade, and … Continue reading The chequered flag
Other ranks
As a driver, it’s not very often that you get the opportunity to mix with or talk to any of the many professions that keep the railways running. As a result, each grade tends to have a slightly jaundiced view of everyone else. Therefore, it was rather nice to dispel some of these myths today. … Continue reading Other ranks
The fast one
Well folks, the end is almost upon me. I have finished the required hours with my minder and am now facing the final assessment to prove my competence (or otherwise) as a train driver. The euphoria was almost spoiled on Friday night when a fight broke out on our train. I’d only just started rolling … Continue reading The fast one
Always the last to know
Perhaps not unreasonably, there is an expectation from members of the public that, if you wear the uniform, you must know everything. Unfortunately, I was totally ill-equipped to fulfill the role of “Know-er of All Things”. Regrettably there was another fatality on our patch this evening just as the peak was subsiding. Whenever such things … Continue reading Always the last to know
The graveyard shift
It’s 1:15am and I’m just in from one of our later jobs. To be honest I don’t much look forward to these Saturday late night turns, as there always seems to be something happening. On Friday night our train was hit by a missile of some sort resulting in a broken window, so I was … Continue reading The graveyard shift
Back to the books
Happy New Year to everyone!! The festive season turned out to be a fairly quiet time. Although I worked up to a pretty eventful Christmas Eve, I managed to wangle plenty of leave so that I didn’t have to go back to work until Tuesday of this week. However, I still managed to fill most … Continue reading Back to the books
Class reunion
My minder said to me some weeks back that you never forget the people that you trained with and that the friendships that you have with them will always remain special. I believed him then, but I believe him all the more now. On the Wednesday of this week, I managed to bump into all … Continue reading Class reunion
Uncharted territory
For a suburban rail company it’s not often that you get an entire job where you never get to your main London terminus, and yet that’s exactly what happened today. The company has been very brave and almost completely re-cast the winter timetable, which now includes services to Stratford as well as Liverpool Street . … Continue reading Uncharted territory
Facts of life
There is never an easy way to broach the subject of fatalities on the railways. They are an ever-present risk to drivers and train-crew, and have unfortunately come crashing into my little world in quite a big way just lately. Obviously there was the recent and widely reported tragedy at Elsenham, but there has been … Continue reading Facts of life
