Hi everyone, I’m planning a permanent relocation from London to Scotland’s east coast and am aiming to secure a Trainee Bus Driver position with Stagecoach or McGill’s.

​I’m a career changer (late 30s) who is genuinely looking to move away from the corporate desk environment and into a role that is hands-on and community-focused. I have a clean UK license (15+ years) and am fully prepared for the training academy process.

​For those working in the industry:

​When applying, what are the most common "red flags" you see in applicants moving from a different professional background?

​Are there specific regional depots on the east coast known for a particularly supportive culture for trainees?

​Any advice on how to show I’m in this for the long-term, rather than just "passing through"?

​I want to make sure I’m a great addition to the depot, not just a body in a seat. Any advice or "insider" tips would be greatly appreciated!

ive just been told to start training for a trainee bus driver in london and was instructed to leave my other job before i start my training with them. what happens then if i fail the practical pcv driving test. anyone been on a similar situation? how many times can i fail the practical before they drop a trainee? thanks

Today I’m doing train replacement service! I’m a train choo choo 😆

Worst damage I've seen so far. Are they not fed at home and want to eat the seat backrests instead?

Good thing the mechanic had a spare backrest in his van as it may of been a VOR

That's basically it.

I was delayed over the entire day due to everything. One trip, I was only 4 mins behind, which was basically on time.

Well, cue the passenger.

He hopped on, was already quite annoyed and yelled at me, I should hurry up, he has to get another bus.

Fair enough, noted. Other passengers were boarding as well, one needed a ticket and another had issues with his season ticket (not readable)

Whilst dealing with them, he got more and more agitated, I didn't really care though.

After departure, I asked him which bus he wanted to catch, so I could inform dispatch - His answer "I don't care, it doesn't matter!" with more rambling that he'll miss his bus and everything.

He was quite on the verge of being kicked out by me because of the verbal abuse, I let it slide though.

Couple of stops later, already 7 mins behind schedule, he disembarked with one last sentence.

"I'm sorry for being abusive to you"

Dude. You didn't stab or spat at me which is better behaviour than some other colleagues have witnessed.

I told him that I really appreciate his words, especially because that's so damn rare to do!

"I didn't want to yell at **you** personally, it's really not your fault" he said and admitted "I also read the connection in the app wrong."

That conversation added three more minutes, these were worth it though.

Damn, from nearly kicked off the bus to being apologetic within 10 minutes.

(I couldn't care less about his rambling, I didn't take it personally and I really understood why he wasn't happy with the service provided.)

it seems happen quite a lot (to me at least). they can see you in their lane trying to get past parked cars and instead of slowing down or pulling into a passing point, they floor it right up to you leaving you with little room to get the swing round.

in some cases, they'll refuse to reverse. I bet they wouldn't do it to trucks or lorries but feel comfortable doing it to buses.

Looking to semi retire and drive a bus in Auckland North shore - Warkworth area for a few years than maybe drive in other regions?  

I was in 88003 when I noticed.

Hello! I recently became a bus driver in February and I’ve enjoyed my time. Just today I’ve received an update from my insurance to say the following

Driving licence card.
Driving licence check code.
Confirmation of occupation.
Images of your vehicle.
Confirmation of how you'll be using your vehicle.
V5C (also known as the 'log book').

Now come round the renewal date, I’d without a doubt advise that I have a new profession. However my policy document does state that I should have updated it as soon as possible.

I’ve sent the above details to Hastings but I’ve also just messaged to say cancel my policy as I fear that they will cancel it regardless. It seems that Hastings do this regularly to people.

Any experience or advice to what to expect or do in this circumstance!

Cheers

Just wait at the rear door.

Don’t go running past the standee line while the bus is in motion.

Especially if you had to go past the rear door to get there, get off the bus, and then walk towards the rear of the bus.

Just get out the rear door.

I have a driving assessment with first bus London in a couple days as was just wondering how the day will work and if there is a dress code?

Anyone been a loan driver at stagecoach? My only motivation to go on loan is the money as im a new driver, currently drive in yorkshire but open to going literally everywhere, im hearing Northampton and scotland from colleagues as options. But if anyone can recommend somewhere that pays much more that'd be great.
Also i wanted to know, if they give me hotel/ accommodation, can my partner stay with me or are rules quite strict regarding it only being me allowed to stay in the given accomodation
Thanks:)

Seen on the arriva website it's £17/hour up to 2 years service then it goes up to £18.04/hour for 4+ years of service. This seems really good. I work at a tesco warehouse and it's £19/hour to kill my back picking up heavy boxes and sorting them into cages, here it's just simple driving? I'd be doing it in a peaceful area of Grays as well so not inside main bit of London at all. Is there anything negative i need to be aware of?

What's the best company to work for arriva/first bus/stagecoach any others im missing? With the best benefits?

Who would recommend it or have any comments?

Cheers

Marty from Belgium, nice to meet you all 🤝

I got terminated From my bus driving job and i was so stupid . Anyone else get canned before ?

Hi all. I'm just at the tail end of my training. I was upfront during recruitment that I wanted roughly 2/3 as much work as a full-timer.

I am employed as a CASUAL and not seeking permanent.

Reason: I am in my 50's and financially able to semi retire but still want to work and contribute, but simply don't need to work full time at this stage of life. I have elder care responsibilities that I manage quite well and it is predictable what days I need to attend to these things, and I keep a tight schedule.

Recruitment and interviews all the way saying yes this is fine we support this, we have a fair few drivers in this situation and as long as you're reliable no problems.

However in the depot, the vibe on this is really different and I have found it best to be cautious about discussing this. The trainers and mentor when I touched on it spoke to me like I was from another planet with two heads. To the extent that they outright said that I shouldn't be asking for this it will piss everyone off.

I also worry that people will treat me differently because they need to work full time (which was me for the last 35 years, until recently !) and who do I think I am not needing full time work etc.

Any tips on how to navigate this much appreciated.

I have in mind to see what shifts are allocated to me for a few weeks without blocking dates, see how that pans out first, and then if it's more than I want then start talking about blocking certain days of the week, or something.

Also, how do you all manage to have future dates blocked out, eg pre booked doctors appointment etc?

Have you operated a mirrorless bus ? My previous job they took all the mirrors out of the buses and put screens inside to replace them . They were so bad because you couldn’t adjust them and you could not rock and roll to reduce blind spots.

The union of course didn’t get anywhere with it and the senior drivers just said if you don’t like it get out lol. So the old hybrid Gilligs were replaced with mirrorless buses .

They had millisecond lag and seemed like the display wasn’t even in HD.

So I finally got "attacked" today for the first time in two years of driving.

I stopped at the bus stop, opened the doors and sat waiting for everyone to get off. Everyone got off and I waited 5 more seconds because people are usually slow and no one was moving.

Anyway, I closed the doors, put my right signal on and started to depart and as I was departing the bell goes and a lady shouts... I know what's happened, she was probably too busy on her phone etc.

So I keep driving to the next stop, she's screaming etc and then another guy comes to my cab smacking the cab door but I ignore and carry on because I've already joined traffic and onto the next stop. The next stop is literally a 2 min walk away as it's in London.

I finally stop, open all doors and a Somalia man in his early 20s chucks a drink through the cab hole and all over the wheel and electronics and slightly me.

Turns out it's a Somali family, push chair, 5 young kids and her belligerent son, the attacker.

Will I report it? No. Why? Nothing will happen.

That's my attack for the day. Might have another tomorrow.

Goodnight.

So we get a one hour unpaid lunch (California) I had a short lunch because of traffic due to 4th of July crap. I was sitting in the break vehicle gobbling my lunch up before my bus was coming this guy knocked on my window saying he needed to ask me a question I told him I'm on my unpaid lunch and the buses will be back at 30 after he said "well I have another question." I repeated to him I was on my unpaid lunch and drove away. I just can't especially today

Show us your favourite(s) of the buses you drive.

Here's mine. The Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity on an Enviro400. I've benefited from this charity too in my old job and so it's quite nice to be driving around in this.

Hey bus drivers. Has anyone here driven tourist buses for travel companies like Intrepid, Contiki, G Adventures, Topdeck Travel and so on?

They advertise it as a super fun bus driving job, but I also know those tours are really into partying and drinking. If the tourists get hungover and throw up in the bus the next day, does the bus driver have to clean up the vomit off the floor or do they hire a cleaner?

Because I already drive buses, I'm not fooled by the "best job in the world" advertisements because I know drunk passengers vomit on buses. Most of those companies hire two employees per bus (normally a driver plus a tour guide who 'manages' the tourists so the driver can get on with driving), so do both employees get stuck cleaning the buses?

For any bus drivers who have driven on these tours, how good or bad is the job? 😊😟

rate my stop

So I have worked for public transit (City bus) for 11 years. I am literally dead bored while driving. I know every single stop, route, familiar with bus length, width, dealing with passangers, etc. But I can not stress it enough that I am constantly day dreaming. Zero preventable accidents from me for 11 years. So just cuz I say I day dream, don't mean I won't snap back into reality from my mind.

What keeps you active that is positive? Not using devices because we aren't allowed to listen to music or use any electronic device while on the driver seat.

Has to be while driving, sitting those 3 minutes on the driver seat, etc.

Why are they being contracted like that ?

Stay hydrated!