Since passing my PTS assessment there hasn’t really been an awful lot of note to report. The driver training is still in its initial induction phase, and we’re getting some fairly basic introductions to the various facets of the job of train driver.

As well as classroom sessions and sessions out in the depot we’ve had out days to the various locations at which we will be based. So far we’ve had introductions to the publications and notices that drivers are expected to use, arrangements for signing on and off duty and a brief look at some of the more major systems on the Class 317 EMU that forms our basic traction. This week will be spent mostly looking at signalling systems. The tone has been quite relaxed with the emphasis on getting a flavour of each topic before having to worry about getting as heavily engrossed as we will need to be to pass the Rules training that will come later. Even so, it’s amazing how much we’ve all learnt in such a short space of time.

Still haven’t even got close to driving a train yet, though.

I’m very pleased to say that your humble correspondent has survived the week to report on passing the first training module.

Being totally new to the railways, I and my colleagues were first required to take and pass the Personal Track Safety (PTS) assessment so that we could be passed competent to wander around the railway environment. Although we’d been out around Hornsey depot letting off fire extinguishers and playing with track circuit clips and detonators, this was small beer in comparison with what was required to pass the PTS assessment – you have to get all the questions right.

As well as a written exam, we had to do a practical track walking exercise that required crossing the running lines. The particular running lines in question form one of the busier parts of the East Coast Mainline a scant four miles outside Kings Cross along which GNER, WAGN and Hull Trains expresses travel at 95mph. Not at all daunting, then.

As things turned out, it wasn’t too bad and I didn’t need a change of undies. Although we had to get right the way across all six running lines and the Ferme Park Sidings none of us ended up as a messy smear on the front of a GNER express. To be honest, there was a small track crew out working on the down slow line in a ‘red zone’ (see, I learnt something), and I spent most of the time watching their lookout to get advance warning of any ‘down’ trains as he had a better view around the flyover than I had. Cheating? Possibly. They still gave me my PTS card though, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain.

First week at the Hornsey training school and it seems like the wheels have already fallen off.

While we were busy swanning about in Ipswich last week, our instructor was scratching his head wondering where we all were. Due to a mix up somewhere along the line it would seem that us trainee drivers should not have been swanning around in the luxury at Ipswich at all, but slumming it in the training school portacabin straight away receiving a far more “driver-orientated” induction. Not only that, but what we should have covered we didn’t, and what we should have been provided with we weren’t. Scratch day one, as we all head to the Bishops Stortford depot to collect hi-vis vests, rule books, sectional appendix and all the other paraphernalia that we should have had from day one. Still, it was a lovely afternoon for a walk down by the river with the wife.

To our trainer’s great credit (and with a bit of re-scheduling), we are now back to where we should have been at this point last week. With fire safety and emergency first aid tomorrow followed by personal track safety for the rest of the week, we should at least be in a position to start driver training proper by next Monday.

It seems that my fears were unfounded. Shortly after the last entry I received details of an induction week starting on 4th April at the Ipswich Town football ground at Portman Road .

The week itself was billed as a corporate induction, and centred primarily on ‘one’ as a company and why we were important as individuals. As someone new to the company and the industry, it was interesting and surprising to hear more about the basis on which the ‘one’ franchise was won, and the nature of the relationships between the various railway companies and the effect that this has on the services being offered.

Although there was a lot of corporate blather, there were sessions on customer service, conflict management and communication. Some of these topics may seem a bit odd for drivers to cover, but the group was mixed and included newly inducted customer service staff and even engineers.

The worth of these sessions was ably demonstrated on a “field trip” that took place on the Tuesday. Having split into smaller groups we were tasked with surveying four ‘one’ stations. The day itself saw a fair bit of disruption, with signalling problems, failed trains at Liverpool Street and on the mainline at both Stowmarket and Diss, and a fatality on the West Anglia network all contributing to the fun of the day. For our group starting at Ipswich , we spent all day on the trains and actually saw very few stations due to the importance of making connections. With all this chaos around, one of the biggest priorities was making sure that passengers were informed at all times, and it was plain to see the important role that drivers had to play in this, even when not actually driving.

As well as inducting us into the company way of thinking, there were sessions on some of the relevant legislation that we would be expected to have to comply with, some basic fire safety training and an introduction to track safety and railway terminology from a no-nonsense former fitter of many years experience. The last of these was one of the most interesting and enjoyable sessions of the week, and the only one in which I took copious notes. Having been apprenticed to the railways during the last days of steam, the trainer was never short of an amusing or thought provoking anecdote to illustrate some point or other.

All in all it was a relaxed and very interesting week. I don’t think that there was an awful lot that I would consider was “training” as such as so much of it was commonsense, but I would consider it a very good grounding in the basics of the company’s ethos and the expectations that they have of me as an employee. How much of it stays with me by the time I complete the training process remains to be seen.