12-03-2012 TWO WEEKS TO GO!!

Hi all

Our group have been hard at work revising and learning the last part of the rule book. We took another assessment today regarding the M modules which are for accidents and fire floods and snow which everyone passed as well, and now it is dawning on us that a fortnight today we will be taking (and hopefully passing!) our final exams!

We also had a fleet representative in today to talk to us about what they get up to and what they want from drivers. It seems to boil down to the fact that they want us to be better with fault reports and not to panic if our train breaks down. I was also amazed about how much just one unit costs to lease from the owners (South West Trains doesn't own its own trains). I won't put the figures on here in case they are sensitive information but maybe a google search will reveal all. However, it is safe to say that you can see why fares have to be as high as they are. We also realised just how many trains have to be available for service everyday and how every train has to have its equivalent of an MOT every several thousand miles.
Next time a train is cancelled because of a failure I might feel a little better about it and it is a shame that they don't put a transcript of today's lesson on the internet as passengers may sympathize a bit more as well.

Anyway, an interesting day and I'll definitely not complain next time I send a fault to fleet and it's not repaired by the next time I see the unit as they really do an amazing job in the depots!