I think it’s a little unfair to say that ’knowing someone’ on the inside helps. In this day and age it makes no difference, as is testament to the amount of people on this forum saying so.
Perseverance really is important. Some people have got in first time (which is amazing! Nice one peeps!). While others like myself have taken a different approach.
I never thought about working in the railway at all. I was a lecturer and artist at the National Gallery ,Somerset House and other Museums and Galleries around London. I also worked my way up in that career from being a gallery assistant.
I moved back home in North Wales and needed work. I seen an ad for Arriva Trains Wales and decided to apply. I was successful and begun working in a new career on the railway. I fell in love with it. I knew however that my heart was set on being a driver and begun to apply at ATW. I didn’t even get through the sift!
A few years later I had to move to Manchester and was out of the railway. It has taken me 5 years, with applications to ATW, Virgin, Northern and TPE (my current employer) before I finally got it. I passed all my assessments, my two years lapsed and had to retake them all again for TPE. I passed them and started my functional skills training today!
I think it would be good to decided what part of the railway interests you and perhaps hone in on that. Because I personally think having a shotgun approach won’t be as effective.
I worked as a guard but had secondments in the booking office, rail replacement officer and platform member. Each had transferable skills which gave me more experience. It gave insight to how each team member is interlinked in the operational side of the railway.
I also had many personal issues which I knew put me at a disadvantage. But TPE looked at me as a human and gave me the opportunity to show that those issues are not negative but have defined the person I am today.
I hope you do manage to get onto the railway if it is truly what you want. Because doing something you love and enjoy is far easier.