Network Rail reviews

Management is horrendous, most of them appear uneducated at best and outright vicious at worst. One in particular has been known to control the rostering in a way that often means staff annual leave requests aren’t approved unless they agree to do ‘voluntary’ overtime. Another manager shut a colleague in an office without food or water for three hours pending a drugs and alcohol test, under the proviso that the colleague wasn’t ’allowed’ to have anything to eat or drink for three hours prior to the test (incorrect). A lot of the middle jobs like platform co-ordinators are filled by management’s close friends and family too. The situation did improve slightly when a long-standing Operations Manager left in 2022 but has since reverted back, with the current Operations Manager being a lackey for those above him, with no interest in building relationships with the staff. Passengers are abusive, some staff have had knives pulled on them and another was punched in the face. Station building itself is barely adequate either, despite a costly revamp a decade ago. Escalators frequently break down and the ‘air filter fans’ on every platform present serious long-term risks to your hearing. A minority of the platform staff are horrible to work with too - some lack basic hygiene and others are outright bigoted (multiple staff have been sacked in recent years for racist comments about colleagues). Another colleague - who was a platform co-ordinator at the time - was suspended and investigated for sexual misconduct. The charges were eventually dropped with the accuser then ‘coincidentally’ gaining a promotion shortly afterwards.

No work life balance, contracted to 35hrs per week. Regularly required to do 50-60 with no over time. Have to work during Annual leave. National/Central functions toxic. Cost cutting and headcount reductions. Front line areas not very inclusive or diverse