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!
Funky moves
What looked like being a rather dull week actually contained a few little nuggets of interest. OK, sure I was stuck up the front of a Stansted Express unit looking at the same old scenery for far longer that I would have liked, but it wasn’t all bad. Monday’s job was a nice easy one … Continue reading Funky moves
Out with a whimper
Once again, sorry for the lack of updates. My PC decided to die an unpleasant death and I had to wait for a replacement which only arrived a couple of days ago. Well, the two weeks with an empty unit is now up and we all seem to have done very well. As well as … Continue reading Out with a whimper
Scream if you want to go faster
Apologies for the lack of recent updates. I haven’t vanished off the face of the earth (well, not yet anyway). It would seem that the endless practice that we had earlier this month has stood us in good stead, as we all passed our traction assessments (and not before time). Thanks to the excellent preparation … Continue reading Scream if you want to go faster
Repetition, repetition, repetition
Since last week’s entry there’s not been much to report. It would seem that we have now covered all of the required knowledge on our basic traction and are spending our time mopping up any points that we feel we don’t fully grasp and endlessly practicing things like coupling and uncoupling units, train prep and … Continue reading Repetition, repetition, repetition
At last…!!
Yesterday was the day that I and my classmates had been waiting for all these months. Almost four months after starting employment with the company we got our first taste of driving. OK, so the journey only lasted about 300 yards and did not exceed 5mph, but it still felt like a major milestone to … Continue reading At last…!!
“The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…”
It seems that I was right about my reputation within the group as a train breaker sticking. Although I’ve had no further incidents, I’m still referred to as a Jonah. In fact, this particular title could just as easily apply to one of our number who got a bit keen when exploring the differences between … Continue reading “The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…”
Train Porn
Having spent all yesterday looking at the dirty underside of a Class 317, we spent most of today inside the unit looking at cocks. It all sounds a little bit sordid but, in order to pass our traction training, we need to know all about them. The cocks in question related specifically to the pantograph … Continue reading Train Porn
Dirty bits
The first day of the traction course was a real breath of fresh air after being stuck inside a classroom doing rules. After some quick pieces of admin, we were lead outside for what seemed to be the first time in absolutely ages and allowed to wander around the outside of our basic traction, the … Continue reading Dirty bits
“…and relax.”
I’m a very happy chappy today, as I have passed my rules exam. Having actually sat the exam yesterday I spent most of last night as a ball of nerves until I heard the outcome this morning by text message from our trainer. One of the things that I was most worried about was that … Continue reading “…and relax.”
Reality Check
The real world came crashing into the classroom in the most jarring of manners today following the terrorist attacks on London ‘s transport network. Although we were shielded from the full impact of these atrocities by distance, the knock-on affect on the railways were still felt. We managed to struggle on with our training for … Continue reading Reality Check
