London Underground advice!?

[NoTrip]

I recently passed my Lucas assessment and I'm a newly qualified electrician.

What is the best way to find work on London Underground? Or which agencies should I join?

I'm looking for work as an electricians mate because I come from an domestic installation background...any advice given will be much appreciated!!

Thanks...

 

[tazz]

London Underground can be the biggest pain to work on, but is still the best paid. You will need to sit quite a few caurses before you can even enter a station main permits are as follows 1. standard entry permit, 2. trackside permit, 3. track permit. 4 esculator permit, 5. LV switch room permit, 6. HV switch room permit, 7. AH room permit.....these are just a few examples and depending on areas of work. Standard night starts at 12am but after checks youll be lucky to start work by 1am..work till 4am then more checks and then a fire alarm tests, off site at 5am....3 hours work if your lucky with a lot of hazzel.
Main contractors, Baily Rail, O`rouke

 

[NoTrip]

Thanks for your reply, I didn't realise that there were so many permits needed. Will the employer pay for these??

 

[tazz]

If your employed by one of the main companies they will, but agenies wont....main training centre is in Stratford run by LUL and Tubelines

 

[Deleted member 26818]

T Clarkes through First Step or Diamond, and K&N just through Diamond are the ones I know.
I believe that Mace though mostly overground and Fast Track also provide labour of companies working on the underground.

Very odd, you're not allowed on the platform if the tracks live unless you have track awareness, but it's alright for you to stand on the platform when going home?

 

[tigerpaul]

What's the rate for a shift these days?

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Not that good, from about £126.81 to about £135, unless it's weekend rates.
On one job, we worked from 7am through to 5pm on a Sunday, and got £320 odd.
On another job (different company), we got £300 for the weekend.

 

[Glamer]

You need to do some survey on your working area and present its copy to the relevant authority for getting permit.
These permits allow you do to work with more concentration and with fine way.

 

[NoTrip]

But as a new starter what permits should I try and attain first? What comes after the Lucas card? PTS??

 

[wade88]

Just a side note after reading this thread - that i just find so amusing - that once a spark has been around a few years, tried his/her hand at work in a few different environments on a different set ups/scenarios etc, they will hold more tickets than a deli counter dispenser. It's just crazy what paper work you "need" to get just to work. Like spin has so poignantly pointed out and highlighted the absolutely absurd bureaucracy that governs working practice not just in spark work but many other things - but you "need" a ticket to be track side.....but can stand hassle free with your lunch box and copy of the metro to wait for the 07:32 to elephant and castle without a hard hat, high viz, clip board wielding jobs worth jumping you.

It's just madness.

 

[wade88]

Get the job based on your technical knowledge, workmanship and attitude, and learn as you go alongside co-workers. Just like any other job. Pretty sure Mi6 agents wernt working as spies for ASDA before they applied for the job. Companies are just too lazy and tight to train their staff these days and its easier to enforce the requirement for 97 different tickets before you can start work. Puts me off in seconds. I'd sooner earn my £120 a day chipping wood for a local tree surgeon or valeting cars without the bother.

 

[Essexboy7]

I have got the lucas,level 3 safe isolation,quaff 54 and spic.I would say including days off work to do the courses that little lot has set me back about £1750.I am testing on there at the moment geting £150 a shift.I would say the going rate for a spark on there at the moment is £130 a shift and more and more jobs want you to do extended hours which means you start at 10 pm and work back of house (which is areas not accessible to the public) then when the trains stop running you can work anywhere then when the trains start again you work back of house until 6 am.There is never any extra money for this.They put a total block on all work that is not safety critical since last August so as not to disrupt the trains for the olympics and it hasnt started back up again yet.The underground used to be a well paid cushy number but now is flooded with poles/romanians/bulgarians who think £130 for an 8 hour shift is fantastic money, more then they could have ever dreamed of earning back home.So if you think you are going to go there and have an earner i am afraid you missed the boat by a few years

 

[Guest55]

I have got the lucas,level 3 safe isolation,quaff 54 and spic.I would say including days off work to do the courses that little lot has set me back about £1750.I am testing on there at the moment geting £150 a shift.I would say the going rate for a spark on there at the moment is £130 a shift and more and more jobs want you to do extended hours which means you start at 10 pm and work back of house (which is areas not accessible to the public) then when the trains stop running you can work anywhere then when the trains start again you work back of house until 6 am.There is never any extra money for this.They put a total block on all work that is not safety critical since last August so as not to disrupt the trains for the olympics and it hasnt started back up again yet.The underground used to be a well paid cushy number but now is flooded with poles/romanians/bulgarians who think £130 for an 8 hour shift is fantastic money, more then they could have ever dreamed of earning back home.So if you think you are going to go there and have an earner i am afraid you missed the boat by a few years

i wouldnt go through all that crap to earn just £130 for nite shifts , i'm on more than that doing 8am-5pm on a commercial project just 5 mins up the road.
and who the hell dreams up names for courses called quaff54 & spic ?? Dr. evil ?? lol

 

[wade88]

i wouldnt go through all that crap to earn just £130 for nite shifts , i'm on more than that doing 8am-5pm on a commercial project just 5 mins up the road.
and who the hell dreams up names for courses called quaff54 & spic ?? Dr. evil ?? lol

Exactly. Divs

 

[grantr37]

I have got the lucas,level 3 safe isolation,quaff 54 and spic.I would say including days off work to do the courses that little lot has set me back about £1750.I am testing on there at the moment geting £150 a shift.I would say the going rate for a spark on there at the moment is £130 a shift and more and more jobs want you to do extended hours which means you start at 10 pm and work back of house (which is areas not accessible to the public) then when the trains stop running you can work anywhere then when the trains start again you work back of house until 6 am.There is never any extra money for this.They put a total block on all work that is not safety critical since last August so as not to disrupt the trains for the olympics and it hasnt started back up again yet.The underground used to be a well paid cushy number but now is flooded with poles/romanians/bulgarians who think £130 for an 8 hour shift is fantastic money, more then they could have ever dreamed of earning back home.So if you think you are going to go there and have an earner i am afraid you missed the boat by a few years

I spoke to a Polish worker who said it was great over here because his wages back home were equivalent to £2.00 sterling an hour, they don't get paid much there....some of the workers from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have told me in the past that recruitment agencies charge them a fee for getting them a job in the UK, then take a % of their money as well....I have heard of Agencies charging £300 and £400 to arrange a job, whereas they can't legally do that here in the UK....

 

[BettyUriegas]

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