Who are we?

South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England and the Isle of Wight.

Join our team and help us continue to improve quality of life, by bringing people together to get the most out of life.

SWR is part of FirstGroup, the largest rail operator in the UK and second largest bus operator in the UK outside London. FirstGroup operates services throughout the UK and Ireland, with over 30,000 employees providing services that make travel smoother and life easier.  FirstGroup works hard to reduce its impact on the environment, introducing cleaner and more environmentally responsible methods of transport. 

About the job:

As a Rail Operator at South Western Railway, you will be at the heart of ensuring trains are safely and efficiently dispatched and stations are presented to the highest standards. You will provide the most up to date travel information for our customers and assist them in reaching their destinations safely and on time.   

Your main responsibilities will be:

• You will be responsible for the safety of thousands of customers every day by making sure your station is always operated professionally.
• You'll keep customers updated about their journeys by making announcements and in your face-to-face interactions and importantly bring your own personality along to make it a truly personal experience for our customers.
• You'll work with train staff and other colleagues to do all you can to make sure trains leave your station safely on time, liaising with station and control colleagues as needed to ensure things go smoothly.
• You will be safely dispatching trains from the platform, ensuring all customers are clear of the train whilst observing the correct signal is showing. You will need normal colour vision for this position.
• As your experience grows, you will become the font of all knowledge about not only the customer's SWR journey, but about key destinations, attractions, and London transport.
• You will need to be flexible in your approach and not afraid to get stuck in with a variety of tasks as you are responsible for your station and making sure it meets the quality and safety standards our customers expect. Whether this be checking everything is working and safe, to clearing up rubbish, or providing a helping hand to a customer, you are the face of SWR and can make a difference to someone's day.

As a minimum, you will need to be:

• Able to travel to your location of work within 60 minutes, for all shift times.
• Organised and efficient and able to cope with repetitive tasks under pressure at times.
• A great communicator and can talk to anyone
• Passionate about doing the right thing – nothing is too much trouble.
• Competent in the ability to use technology. 
• Confidence to make regular live announcements at your station.
• Able to distinguish colours with normal colour vision
• All new entrants are required to undergo

Applicants who require a visa must have 6 months remaining at the time of their appointment. Training is full time and you must be able to commit to this.

Working pattern:

Our customers need us all day, every day (except Christmas day) and as part of the stations team, you'll need to able to work shifts at all times of the day and on every day of the week.

On average you will work 17 hours per week over 6 days.

Rostered shifts Monday – Saturday, with Sunday being optional.

Shifts starting from 16:55 - 19:45, rostered shift times may vary.

The Reward:

There may on occasions be the opportunity to work on rest days or to do overtime.  This may give the possibility of your overall pay being approximately £30,000 per annum plus regional allowance.

As well as a competitive salary, we offer a variety of valuable benefits, including:

• Free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employee
• Free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependant)
• 75% discount on many other train operating companies
• Full training and support with development
• Large range of exclusive retail offers
• Excellent pension scheme

We all belong at SWR. FirstGroup's vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, across its group of businesses, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.

We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.

We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.

We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.

If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below.  We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.

https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/

https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/