Northern Rail

[Irwell]

Refer to the Paddington crash of 1999 and get to understand the various contributing factors that went into the accident. The job isn't quite as easy as you seem to be making out.

The fact is that there are a limited number of controls/inputs. The biggest challenge would be retaining focus for the length of the journey, which I guess is a mental challenge of a variety but not the kind I was envisaging. From my perspective I don't see it as a 'mentally challenging' role. I can think of many medical, scientific and engineering roles I would consider challenging, but driving a train really isn't one of them, in much the same way as driving an HGV carries heavy responsibility but isn't mentally challenging.

 

[mat]

The fact is that there are a limited number of controls/inputs. The biggest challenge would be retaining focus for the length of the journey, which I guess is a mental challenge of a variety but not the kind I was envisaging. From my perspective I don't see it as a 'mentally challenging' role. I can think of many medical, scientific and engineering roles I would consider challenging, but driving a train really isn't one of them, in much the same way as driving an HGV carries heavy responsibility but isn't mentally challenging.

You’d make a good Driver Manager.

:)

@FantasyIreland is currently training to be one. Perhaps he could show the documents he has to understand inside out before he’s even allowed to sit in the chair to be one. Then the hard work starts....

People wishing to become drivers have to go through numerous psychological tests to prove they are compentant to do it.

 

[Irwell]

@FantasyIreland is currently training to be one. Perhaps he could show the documents he has to understand inside out before he’s even allowed to sit in the chair to be one. Then the hard work starts....

People wishing to become drivers have to go through numerous psychological tests to prove they are compentant to do it.

Psychological checks? I can completely understand that. A terrorist in charge of a train, or a suicidal one even, could be one of the worst incidents this country has seen in modern times. I can imagine speed of response is very important too if something goes wrong. The fact is, though, that you have maybe a dozen buttons and a couple of levers. Intellectually it isn't amongst society's most challenging roles.

 

[andyhinch]

Psychological checks? I can completely understand that. A terrorist in charge of a train, or a suicidal one even, could be one of the worst incidents this country has seen in modern times. I can imagine speed of response is very important too if something goes wrong. The fact is, though, that you have maybe a dozen buttons and a couple of levers. Intellectually it isn't amongst society's most challenging roles.

They're on rails, all they have to do is press the go peddle and the stop peddle, don't even have to steer, they need to get over thier selves.

 

[goatinho]

haha some people on here make me piss.
they know everything about everything....they know how to manage a football team , how the country should be run etc etc...fuck me , you even know how to drive a train now when in reality you know fuck all about jobs you have never done. i would love some you to see the the stuff drivers have to learn , remember and implement , deal with nob heads , stop a train within a foot of the end of a platform from 70mph on poor adhesion rails or control a train nearly 3000 tons behind you .

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

A mate who was also an ex colleague went to work for NR in 2007, he wanted to become a driver but was told he would have a better chance if he started out as a Steward/guard. Nearly 11 years later, despite exemplary service he's still waiting after being knocked back three times. He's been told most recently he's not suitable for the Drivers role.

Now I don't know what the criteria is to be a driver but my mate is studious, well above average intelligence and adaptable. He has been driving a car for years which maybe irrelevant but can anyone explain why he may not be suitable?

Did he go through an aptitude test of some sort or did they just take one look at him. Maybe the fact he never asked why he wasn't suitable is the reason.

 

[Vic]

Remember a couple of years back when a tram somewhere down south took a bend at around 60mph when the speed limit for that section of line was around 20mph? I'm not sure [at this time of the night] of the precise details but there were fatalities amongst the injured. Well these exact speed limits are amongst the myriad of details that drivers have to learn, and as they are expected to travel at the maximum line speed rather than just saunter along whilst admiring the scenery then they have to learn exactly of the various gradients that affect the braking distance wherever the train is. It's not like driving a car in that a driver can slam on the brakes and bring the train to a sudden halt. A driver has to be focussed fully at all times and I don't begrudge them of their salaries.

That was the Croydon tram. But plenty of train crashes caused by excessive speed.

 

[Vic]

That is exactly what I meant. The job has high levels of responsibility, so I'm not taking away from their right to pay, but remembering that on my route I have to slow down at this point isn't exactly superstring theory braneworld applications of Calabi–Yau large extra dimensions.

For a Virgin driver based at Preston that's well over a thousand miles of track - some of which he or she might be on once in a blue moon, and knowing every speed restriction (including temporary ones) and every signal. In that respect the job is probably easier as a BR driver would be expected to know far more routes and far more different types of traction - which makes Northern Rail's inability to train drivers for the new franchise with over two years notice so much more pathetic.

 

[hammocity]

Did he go through an aptitude test of some sort or did they just take one look at him. Maybe the fact he never asked why he wasn't suitable is the reason.

He did do a psychometric profile and aptitude test, first couple of times he was knocked backed but encouraged to try again. The last time he was told he wasn't suitable! He's an intelligent guy with common sense to boot, he shouldn't be checking tickets on trains!

 

[grunge]

From the way I heard it ( from a staff member ) northern were paying overtime to get drivers to work on test days then stopped a few weeks back, hence a major lack of drivers now.

So in reality this “deal” to pay overtime is just putting things back to the way they were rather than some big shift in policy.