c2c employs a pool of over 150 train drivers – and like the rest of the UK rail industry and many other businesses, we offer our staff overtime to boost our contingency for holiday and sickness cover.
In recent years, we’ve occasionally experienced spikes of short-term sickness or a lack of driver availability, and these events have led to increased cancellations. Wherever possible, we make every effort to avoid cancelling trains and we are very sorry if delays have impacted your journey.
That’s why last year we agreed with the ASLEF trade union to increase the number of passenger train drivers we currently employ by an extra 17%.
A number of new drivers have already completed their training and qualified, and are now driving your trains on a daily basis. We also have more driver training courses underway, and will be running more courses next year.
This has already significantly reduced how often short-term and late-notice driver unavailability leads to delayed trains or cancelled services. We have advertised for new depot drivers, which is the first step in the professional career of a train driver. If you are interested in this as a possible career, please keep an eye on our careers page for future postings.