Transport UK Rail Replacement is the UK’s largest rail replacement operator, providing full procurement and management services for vehicles, drivers, coordinators, supervisors and other resources when rail services are affected by planned engineering work, short-notice incidents or emergency disruption. Working closely with train operating companies and local control teams, we help keep passengers moving safely and reliably when rail replacement services are required.
We are looking for a proactive and customer-focused Controller to join our Rail Replacement team in Glasgow. This is a key operational role responsible for managing and coordinating planned and unplanned rail replacement activity, ensuring services are delivered safely, efficiently and professionally for our customers, operators and stakeholders.
As a Controller, you will play an important part in the day-to-day delivery of rail replacement operations, supporting live service requirements, liaising with operators and train operating companies, managing service updates and ensuring accurate handovers between shifts.
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Manage the daily delivery of emergency and pre-planned rail replacement operations.
- Book on operators and coordinators, confirm readiness and monitor live operational activity.
- Respond promptly and professionally to requests from train operating companies by email, telephone and Teams.
- Provide regular updates on operational changes, driver arrival, passenger collection and station access or egress issues.
- Use operational systems, including TravelNet, to review, update and close duties accurately.
- Maintain accurate documentation, including handover logs, compliance records and operational updates.
- Support operator availability checks, driver detail collation and duty reviews for upcoming work.
- Escalate issues appropriately and ensure outstanding actions are clearly included in shift handovers.
- Work collaboratively with internal teams, operators, resource managers and other stakeholders to support safe and reliable service delivery.
You will be a confident communicator with experience in customer service, operations, transport, logistics or a coordination environment. You will be comfortable working in a busy, live operational setting where priorities can change quickly, and you will be able to remain calm, organised and solution-focused under pressure.
Essential skills and experience
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally.
- Experience in a customer service, operational, transport, logistics or coordination role.
- Ability to prioritise competing tasks and respond effectively to live operational issues.
- Confidence using Microsoft Office and operational systems to record and share information accurately.
- Good attention to detail and a commitment to accurate documentation and handovers.
- A proactive, flexible and team-focused approach.
Desirable
- Understanding of the bus, coach, rail replacement or wider UK travel industry.
- IOSH Managing Safely or an equivalent health and safety qualification.
- Intermediate or advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel.
- Experience of Power BI or other reporting tools.
Our values
At Transport UK, our values are part of who we are. We are respectful, straightforward, customer centric, open and welcoming. We take ownership, deliver on our promises and work in a way that is inclusive, connected and focused on continuous improvement.
This is an opportunity to join a specialist team at the heart of rail replacement operations, supporting passengers and stakeholders when reliable, well-coordinated transport matters most. You will be part of a responsive and experienced team working across planned events, emergency disruption and complex operational requirements, where no two days are the same.
- Contributory pension scheme – you contribute 5% of your salary each month and we contribute an additional 3%.
- Life insurance – available when you join the pension scheme.
- Salary sacrifice benefits – access to options such as a new laptop, smart watch, TV or phone in exchange for a salary sacrifice arrangement.
- Retail and lifestyle discounts – savings with a wide range of retailers including Apple, Adidas, Nike, Vue, Odeon, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and more.
- Eye test vouchers to support your wellbeing at work.
- Employee Assistance Programme – free, confidential support for personal and work-related matters.
Transport UK London Bus operates bus services across London on behalf of TFL, plus rail replacement and event services across the UK. We operate approximately 11 per cent of the capital's world famous red bus network, running around 950 vehicles and employing around 2,900 employees across six busy depots in Central, South and West London. We run a number of routes, carrying over 150 million passengers a year on TfL’s contracted bus network.
Transport UK London Bus is working hard to make sure our workforce is a true representation of society, and we fully support diversity, inclusion and equity. This means we take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination and harassment. We encourage suitably qualified applicants from under-represented groups to apply. A copy of our Diversity, Inclusion and Equality Policy is available on request.
