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.

The Reward

Opportunities to work on rest days or to do overtime could increase your annual earnings. Some Rail Operators earn up to £30,000 per annum plus regional allowance.

On top of your salary, we offer a variety of valuable benefits, including:

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

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 responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• 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.
• Offering passenger assistance to those that need it, whether this be additional support with moving luggage or helping customers board and alight our trains with ramps.
• 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 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 cleaning toilets, checking everything is working and safe, 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.

* For a full list of responsibilities, please download the job description available at the bottom of this advert.

You'll need to be:

• Organised, proactive and able to efficiently prioritise tasks.
• Able to cope with repetitive tasks under pressure.
• A great communicator that enjoys working with people.
• Confident and happy to approach and talk to new people.
• Passionate about doing the right thing – nothing is too much trouble.
• This is a safety critical role and you will be required to pass a medical including vision and hearing tests.

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.

You will work an average of 37 hours per week with additional hours on Sundays. You will join a 3-week rolling roster, including early, late and weekends shifts.

Typical shifts include:

06:00 – 15:15 / 15:15 – 23:30

Sunday hours: 08:00 – 20:00

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.

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/