Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the training is for drivers to learn new routes on Southern services arising from the new timetable; and what proportion of the route learning time for a new route is (a) classroom based and (b) learning on the job.

The average training length for a new train driver recruit will vary between Train Operating Companies, and will in part be determined by the complexity of the route(s) upon which the driver is being trained. However, we understand that training length can be up to or over a year. For existing drivers learning new routes, this will again vary depending upon factors such as the complexity of the route. The training of drivers for these new routes has been managed by the Train Operating Company who are best placed to answer queries around the specifics of the training detail. Route knowledge needs to be kept up to date and if a driver has not driven on a route for the past 6 months, they will need to undergo refresher training.