Southern and Gatwick Express celebrate newly-trained local train drivers

A group of 69 trainee and newly-qualified train drivers were celebrated in an event at Fairfield Halls, East Croydon, last week.

The group of men and women are among the most recent recruits brought in to maintain the pool of employees who drive local trains for Southern Rail and Gatwick Express.

Some had recently finished their classroom training allowing them to go out in the cab with an instructor while others have completed their course and can now drive solo.

It takes 15 months of intensive training to become a fully qualified train driver. Training starts with six months in the classroom. Trainees then clock up 225 hours’ driving experience with an instructor before they take their final four-day initial competency assessment allowing them to go out on the tracks alone.

Southern and Gatwick Express Managing Director Angie Doll said: “This was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the hard work and achievement of both our trainees and their classroom trainers and driving instructors.

“Our drivers play a vital role for the local community where they live and quite often work. It’s also great to see more women join the industry as we continue to increase diversity among our people to better reflect the population of the areas we serve.”

Ends

Editor’s notes

Last year 30% of Southern’s trainee driver roles were taken up by women, and Govia Thameslink Railway as a whole is working towards 40% female trainee train drivers by 2021.

Case studies

Chantelle Joseph, 29, (pictured far right of group shot) who lives in Westminster and works out of Victoria depot, has completed her classroom training. She has a degree in biomedical sciences but has always been a self-proclaimed ‘train nerd’ and rail enthusiast. For four years she was a volunteer at the London Transport Museum.

Claire Jackson, 35, (pictured with MD Angie Doll) who lives in Bexhill-on-Sea and works out of Brighton, has completed her classroom training. She worked as a train cleaner in Eastbourne for Southern for 12 years (on permanent night shifts) and when she decided on a change of career her manager suggested she apply for the driver programme.

Kofi Apau, 27, who lives in Wandsworth and works out of Victoria depot, has completed his classroom training. An undergraduate with a Masters in mathematics, he has several members of his family who are drivers and applied straight out of university.

Ben McKoy, 32 (pictured with MD Angie Doll) who lives in Croydon and works out of Selhurst depot, passed his driver’s test in September. He was a support paramedic in south London before joining Southern. His brother-in-law is a Southern driver and was friends with Selhurst conductor Gary Allen who sadly passed away a few years ago and each year there is a football match that takes place in his memory. Ben was invited to watch this football match one year and whilst he was there he met other drivers who suggested he apply and after an 18-month wait, he started his training.