I’m a woman who works on the railway - AMA!

[GabriellaRose]

Hello! MNHQ here. We're really excited to team up with Network Rail to bring you our first ever sponsored AMA. Gabriella is keen to give you the inside story on any questions you might have about her job, the railway, and how it can be a great career choice for anyone, whatever their skillset or commitments.

Over to Gabriella!

Hi, I'm Gabriella and I work on the railway. Ask me anything about my job with Network Rail...

Hi again @thevanisher .

Most favourite part of my job is easy to answer - being able to help people and seeing issues actually get resolved! Really does provide such a great sense of job satisfaction.

Helping people is always something I have had a passion for (hence always having worked in some form of Customer Service) - I really enjoy seeing a job through from start to finish, and knowing you have made a difference to someone's life, however big or small (cheesy I know, but true!).

Worst part of my job is saying "no".
I would quite easily help everybody if I could and fulfil every request that gets sent in - but, there are times when we have to say no. Unfortunately, we do not have an unlimited budget or resource available and we have to prioritise jobs on a safety basis. That does mean, sadly, sometimes having to say no - not a part I enjoy!

Hope that answers your Q's !

Good morning @otterturk - I agree, it is a wonderful place to work! Glad you have fond memories.

Sorry to hear you're missing the railway though, would you ever consider re-joining?

We have lots of different roles available (as you probably already know) and I actually think the pay is really competitive...
newworkingyou.co.uk/

Have name changed but I also work for network rail as a signaller and absolutely love it. They are great to work for

Hi Gabriella, why are some routes so crowded on the train. I travel on the Manchester Airport to Glasgow route and its always busy but between 4pm - 6pm the train is cram packed. You have to stand and it's crammed person to person, its very claustrophobic. You can't move. It's always like this so why can't they put more carriages on during rush hour on this busy line. Thanks

Thank you for answering my questions. It is good to hear that they take bullying and harassment seriously and they absolutely do not tolerate that type of behaviour.

I hope that you have a wonderful career and that your colleagues continue to be supportive.

Best wishes OP.

Did you always like trains and have trainsets as a kid? And do you get to know trainspotters personally ie do you see the same ones trackside all the time,. and if so are they all strange old men?

How do you deal with the practical aspects - the most obvious being loo facilities? Sorry to lower the tone, but I always think it must be tricky for motorway / railway staff to be marooned in the middle if the M25/ mainline to Penzance / whatever.

Also how worried are you about safety following that awful tragedy in South Wales recently (rip to those who died). (Stay safe x)

Glad to hear you love working for Network Rail too @Tinkerbell1010 !

Evening @AndroidB!

Thanks for your question. Really sorry to hear you are having a difficult time with your journey at the moment - feeling claustrophobic is never nice!

I don’t personally work on the Manchester Airport to Glasgow route so I don’t have first hand experience or knowledge of how busy that particular line can be, but what I do know is that our whole network is extremely busy with passenger numbers growing all of the time. This is why Network Rail, and the rest of the rail industry, are investing and working to upgrade the railway.

In terms of the number of train carriages - I’m afraid you would need to ask your train operating company. Network Rail do not run trains - instead we manage the infrastructure that they run on I.e. tracks, bridges, viaducts and a number of stations - so the Train Operating Company would be best answering this one! I understand that a lot of Train Operating Companies (TOC’s for short) in the North, are currently investing in new trains with additional capacity and more seats - so I really hope that your line is included in this!

Sorry I can’t be of more help but I hope that goes a little way to answering your question?

How flexible is it? Is it all mainly nights? My ex used to work on the railway and I was always like I would like to do that, But now has a single mum I'm guessing the hours are shifts? Can you choose your hours??

What's been the best and the worst moments you have experienced in your role?

Hi @Deminism - thanks for getting in touch!

I’ll be honest I wasn’t a huge train or train set fan as a young child.
My interest in trains probably came when I was a teenager and started using the London Underground.

Re: Train spotters... In my previous job when I was based at a London Terminus Station, you might see the same train spotter once or twice - but this was quite rare. It is not always abundantly clear that somebody is waiting to spot a train.

Those I have previously spoken to whilst working at the station, have always been very polite and quite happy to let us know what train they were hoping to see! They weren’t always men either.

I have not personally witnessed any person waiting to spot a train while standing ‘trackside’. Unfortunately unless you are competent in ‘Personal Track Safety’ (PTS) or have a special visitors permit and accompanied by somebody who does hold a PTS - you would be unable to stand trackside, unless this was behind a boundary fence.

I just want to clarify that I don’t find train spotters ‘strange’ - we all have our own unique interests and that’s fine with me!

Hope that answers your questions!

Hi @ParmesanOfVirtue - thank you for commenting - they are both really good questions!

So in terms of loos, we have what are called “Welfare facilities”. These are often positioned beside the railway and provide a safe place for staff members to use the toilet, to sit and have something to eat or, a break. We are also able to use the welfare facilities at our Network Rail maintenance depots which are often spaced out fairly equally along the line. I believe the Network Rail standard dictates that there should always be a welfare facility within 20 minutes of any point on the track - although this can be a difficult rule to implement in both rural areas - and built up areas where space is tight. It is something we are working really hard on in our Maintenance Delivery Unit at the moment.

What happened in South Wales was truly awful and shocking, and my thoughts go out to their families. It really did send shock waves through the whole railway industry that day - it is such a poignant reminder of how truly dangerous the railway can be. I don’t believe the full details of what happened that day have been released yet but I know there is an extremely thorough investigation taking place and I have no doubt that new safety regulations will be implemented as result.
In terms of my own safety, it is always I am über aware of. We have extremely robust processes in place to keep staff safe when they are out on track but we must never become complacent and we must always challenge unsafe behaviours and working practices, we are able to invoke a work safe procedure where all work is stopped if we do not feel something is safe.

I hope that answers your questions?

Hi @queenjolo29 - thanks for your questions!

Network Rail are an extremely flexible company to work for in my opinion. We have a flexible working policy in place and I currently utilise this as I work two days a week from home (this was agreed by my Line Manager). I am very fortunate in the sense that certain aspects of my job can be carried out using my laptop so there is no requirement for me to be physically in the office everyday.
It is worth me saying though that every job is different and in some cases, flexible working may not be possible. It is reviewed on a case by case basis.

It is also worth me saying that every job is different in terms of working shifts/nights and working hours. This all depends on the type of job you have or are interested in applying for.

I don’t personally work nights, but I know that other members of the maintenance team I work in, do. There are so many different jobs available I definitely wouldn’t be put off by thinking it’s “mainly nights” as it most certainly isn’t!
Some jobs are office hours - Monday-Friday, some jobs are part-time, some jobs are nights, some are shift work and weekends - it all really depends!

My advice would be to have a look on the Network Rail jobs website - it will often tell you in the description of the job listing what kind of working hours would be expected - www.newworkingyou.co.uk

I hope that helps and good luck if you decide to apply!

What I do know, is that Network Rail - along with the rail industry as a whole, are investing a huge amount of money to make the network more accessible. I definitely think that this is the right step to take. I previously worked at a busy London Terminus station as a 'Mobility Assistant' and it was my job to help passengers requiring assistance, on and off trains. I know first hand how important it is when we are meeting these passengers - to get it right - and that making the railway more accessible for all is essential.

What training do you get in order to work as a "mobility assistant?" Are you educated about invisible disabilities such as autism and learning disabilities?
I ask because I've heard many a story about autistic people who have been unable to access the help they need when travelling because railway staff have said "you don't look disabled to me."
On a similar note I have a learning disabled relative who was questioned about their disabled railcard, because according to the guard in question, "they're only for people in wheelchairs." And he refused to allow them to purchase a ticket using their card, also wrongly telling them that their accompanying person does not get the same discount.
I don't know if you'll be able to answer this question or not, but it's worth a shot. Do train guards recieve any disability awareness training?

I work in Maintenance too, OP. 20 years next year. Great thread.

Hi @Mummy0ftwo12 - thanks for your questions!

Best moments - it’s really difficult to choose just one. I would say when we have resolved an issue that has been bothering a resident for a while (for example, removing a dead tree that may have been over hanging their garden) or receiving a letter of thanks - that is always a nice touch and let’s you know you’ve achieved a good job. We recently carried out a Community day where members of our team helped to “jazz up” a community garden locally to where we work - that was really rewarding as the local residents were so grateful so definitely a recent highlight!

Worst moments - probably whenever I carry out site inspections of any fly tipping that has reported by members of the public or staff - obviously depending on the contents that can be a rather unpleasant aspect of the job!

Hi @JanMeyer - thanks for your questions, I’ll do my best to answer!

So it was a while ago now that I worked as “mobility assistant” but from what I remember, yes we were given thorough training about all kinds of disabilities (including ‘invisible’ ones that may not be obvious). We were also given training on the practical aspects of being a mobility assistant such as how to safely put down ramps to allow passengers to exit the trains and how to call ahead to the stations they were travelling to.

I’m really sorry to hear that you have heard stories about people with autism not getting the help they require. I regularly helped a passenger with autism when I worked as a mobility assistant - the passenger used to travel into London most Saturdays and we would help them get to the Underground entrance from the train they had travelled on - so I’m hoping the stories you’ve heard are just one-off’s and not a reflection of every station.

Re: the disabled rail card. I’m afraid I can’t really answer that as I wouldn’t want to provide any information that is incorrect as I haven’t worked in that team for a while now. You are best off checking with our mobility assistant helpline - the telephone number is 03457 11 41 41. They will be best to advise about the railcard.

Re: train guards. These are usually employed directly by the Train Operating Companies so I’m unsure whether they offer similar training to that, that mobility assistants who work directly for Network Rail receive. You would be best off checking with the Train Operating Company to confirm!

I hope that helps?

Hello Gabriella. I'm a massive railway-geek (and proud of it) and I would love to work on the railways! My questions are -

• What sort of pension schemes are available with Network Rail?
• Are Network Rail receptive to older people looking for a new career?
• Are there any home-working roles?

Are they a good company to work for? My partner has recently applied...

Thanks for all the interesting questions I’ve really enjoyed answering them all and I hope it’s helped you to understand a bit more about what it’s like to work in a maintenance role like mine at Network Rail.

From my experience, Network Rail are a great company to work for. I’m really lucky to have supportive work colleagues and flexible working, which enable me to have the best work/life balance.

My advice is to visit: www.newworkingyou.co.uk if you’re interested in a railway career. Here you can hear from other employees, and find out more about their experiences working in similar roles to me at Network Rail. You can also sign up for job updates in your local area!

Gabriella

Hello Mumsnet
It's v obvious this person is not qualified to actually answer anything. Poor show