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Trainee Conductor Apprenticeships

Northern’s 12-month Level 2 Conductor Apprenticeship offers the latest virtual, immersive, and augmented reality training, as well as lots of practical and classroom-based learning.

You’ll find our Conductors on our trains, always on hand to help customers, and there’s far more to the role than simply checking tickets and travel documents. Crucially, it’s about creating a rapport with passengers and being the public face of Northern.

Northern Conductor duties include:

  • Contributing to the safe operation of the train, including dispatch and operating the doors
  • walking through carriages, and answering customers’ questions about routes, arrival times and connections
  • checking travel documents and scanning and selling a wide variety of tickets 
  • making announcements over the public-address system
  • ensuring that all our customers can get on and off the train safely
  • dealing with any unexpected delays, emergencies or unforeseen events 
  • managing disruption onboard, politely and calmly.

You will need the maturity to work well under pressure, make important decisions and use your initiative and outgoing personality to make conversation with passengers and help them to enjoy a relaxed, easy, enjoyable and safe journey. We can promise you that no two days will be the same!

Becoming a Northern Conductor involves working towards a Level 2 Apprenticeship Standard. This begins with three-months intensive training on safety critical and operational aspects and responsibilities. The programme then teaches our Conductors how to deliver exceptional customer service.

We look for exceptional candidates who excel at delivering customer service, are highly motivated, positive and enthusiastic, have the ability to make decisions confidently and calmly, often under pressure, can use their own initiative, and are great team players. We welcome applications from all age groups regardless of experience, as full training is given.

Candidates need to be flexible enough to work shifts from the early hours of the morning until late at night, at weekends and on bank holidays. It is essential that candidates are able to get to work without relying on public transport due to the service critical nature of the role which means living within a 45-minute car journey from their place of work.

Our Conductor recruitment process consists of some online assessments, an interview with the Northern Conductor Management Team and a safety-critical medical, which includes a drug and alcohol screen. The safety critical nature of this role means that unfortunately you won’t be able to progress if you have defective colour vision.

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Hear from our Conductors

Learn from our conductors and their experience working at Northern.

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Streamline your journey and get tickets straight to your phone. Making your journey contact-free.