Trainee Bus Driver - Battersea
Tourists flying in and out of Heathrow Airport. Rugby fans lining the stands at Twickenham. Weekenders soaking up the sun in Trafalgar Square.
London’s fleet of buses is the red line connecting all these dots. And in each bus is a driver making sure people get where they want to go.
We’re nothing without our drivers. So we’re looking for a new generation of future superstars to join our training to become a bus driver.
Our Bus Driver Training Programme
We’ll train you to drive a London Bus. You’ll spend roughly 4-6 weeks learning to drive a London Bus and getting your licence at our Battersea based training depot. After that you’ll go straight to your depot for your local induction and route learning, you’ll then be out on the road as a bus driver.
During your training. You’ll work shifts for at least 38 hours a week. This will include classroom and practical driving training, which will see you working early mornings and late nights, and weekends and bank holidays.
Who we are
We’re the team behind hundreds of buses zipping across London, with over 150 million customers a year. We couldn’t do it without our drivers – so we offer some of the best salaries and benefits in the business.
You’ll need to:
- be 18 years old or over
- have a UK bank account and valid Right to Work documents
- have a full UK driving licence (category B) with at least 6 months experience driving in the UK
- no more than six penalty points - please contact us if you have a drink/drug related endorsement on your licence
- computer literate.
You’ll also:
- be one of those above-and-beyond types, keeping an eye on your customers health and safety and making sure your vehicle’s always in good condition
- be willing to learn, with a positive attitude to your own development and training
- have an eye for detail
- have a ‘right first time’ attitude.
Where you’ll work
After 4-6 weeks at our Battersea depot, we’ll take your home address into account and usually, but not always, the nearest garage where we’re short of drivers will become your new depot. Wherever that is, you’ll need to be able to get there quickly any time of day or night, and ideally without using a car (our car parks can get seriously busy).
As part of your training, you’ll get:
- an hourly rate of £14.80 per hour, rising to £16.30 - £17.30 per hour on completion of your training
- training for your Driver Certificate of Professional Competence card (CPC)
- free theory and practical driving tests
- full training for the routes and services you will be driving
Working for us means you get lots of benefits on top of your salary, including:
- free travel on all TFL routes for you and a friend or family member (once you’ve worked with us for three months, value c.£8,000)
- training and development
- an annual safe driving bonus, and high street vouchers for good performance
- access to our contributory pension scheme – you put in 5% of your salary each month and we’ll add 3% on top
- life insurance (if you sign up to the pension scheme)
- salary sacrifice benefits – you can choose to get things like a new laptop, smart watch, TV or phone in return for slightly less pay
- discounts from shops and retailers – including Apple, Adidas, Nike, Vue, Odeon, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and more
- eye test vouchers
- free help from our employee assistance programme to support you personally and at work
- opportunities to increase your income through our annual safe driving bonus, our refer a friend scheme and by being awarded our golden tickets for excellent driving and customer service
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.
