Jump to content

Life as a TO


R1Toasty

Recommended Posts

So, you guys might remember me wanting to become a TO, right? Of course, I am still 16, but it can never hurt to have a plan. You see, I'm curious to know the stresses of being a TO. My requirement for housing is important, thus, would you know where I could get a good deal on an apartment. It's need to be suitable for 2 or more people (my friend will be working in the subway repair shops, we'll be splitting an apartment), a family member has one in Manhattan for $800, but it's one "big" room, so what do you know of? Anyway, any other details about what I should prepare for would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

R1

Link to comment
Share on other sites


For that price in any of the Boroughs, it will most likely be a one "big bedroom". Do you want a one or two bedroom (not a studio)? If a one full bedroom, it will cost $1000+ in most places. Two will run $1200+. That is NYC for you. I recommend expanding your options to include Yonkers, Mt.Vernon and New Rochelle in southern Westchester. I stated before a buddy of mine (works for MTA Bus now), lives with his mother and two younger brothers. The one bedroom they all cram in cost $1200, in El Barrio (aka Spanish Harlem). That does not include gas and electricity. I pay $1019 for an even larger 1 bedroom, which includes gas (electric separate cost b/w $15 to $50 a month), and one parking space. The regular rent is $960.

 

Hopefully Dave will read your post and reply to you, about the T/O stresses. If not send him a PM. I asked him to join the board, so he could answer some of your T/O and C/R questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm, I could manage with that I suppose. It doesn't seem too bad, of course I have little idea what my income would be as a CR or TO, but I imagine two people could split living costs. Oh, and by the way, if anyone knows of any test dates coming up for CR I'd appreciate it. Yonkers and whatnot might be a little far, as well, I'd have to go in by train every day. What about Staten Island?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm, I could manage with that I suppose. It doesn't seem too bad, of course I have little idea what my income would be as a CR or TO, but I imagine two people could split living costs. Oh, and by the way, if anyone knows of any test dates coming up for CR I'd appreciate it. Yonkers and whatnot might be a little far, as well, I'd have to go in by train every day. What about Staten Island?

 

Staten Island expensive. Yonkers, Mt.Vernon, and New Rochelle is not that far from NYC. All you would need is a MetroCard and there are numerous bus lines that connect with NYC Subway. They just don't run 24 hours, and that will be a problem if you plan on using mass transit. The Bronx is a place I think you can find reasonable rents. Just put on your walkin' sneakers, and get the walkin'. There are alot of for rent signs up in the Bronx.

 

The salary and info you seek for C/R and T/O is here. These are old, so since our contract at NYCTA has been renewed it is actually higher. Just no test have been given out to reflect it.

 

Conductor: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/downloads/pdf/noes/conductor.pdf

 

Train operator: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/downloads/pdf/noes/trainoperator.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, yes, I see. I take it the employee metrocard isn't good for those then? It wouldn't be that bad. Shell out a lil' for a bus to the subway and go for a ride into the city to hang out. And by how much has the pay gone up since then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, yes, I see. I take it the employee metrocard isn't good for those then? It wouldn't be that bad. Shell out a lil' for a bus to the subway and go for a ride into the city to hang out. And by how much has the pay gone up since then?

 

They honor us though, so we ride the Bee-Line for free, as we honor them when they use our buses. If I use the Bee-Line to the subway it's free. Why is because we are in the same business, and are TWU Local 100. "Mutual respect".

I don't know the top salary for a T/O or C/r now, but I do know C/R make a little less than a B/O, and a T/O makes more than a B/O by a little. A B/O starts at, $18.20hr, and tops out at $26.92hr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Stresses of being a Train Operator comes from the three C's (Customers,Conductors,Control Center). I'll explain as I go this may be a long post.

Working for NYCT-RTO there is NO city residency requirement. You just need to be at work when they need you. I took the Exam at 16 YRS old and I live in PA. I took the job at 18 Years old hired as a Conductor. I know someone who took the C/R and T/O exam and lived in Florida. He got hired as a C/R and now is a T/O all in one Year. However since he was hired as a T/O from the O/C exam and didn't finish probation as a C/R he is out the door if something happens and he understands the risk.

Working for NYCT you must understand this is a 24/7 operation if they want you to report to Coney Island at 2 AM on a cold snowy night you must be there on time. Your only excuse for being late is if the train or NYCT Bus your riding is late. I have noticed they been starting New T/O's on the Midnight tour so its a very real possablity. When I got promoted I was put on Midnights and hated every minute of it but I did it for 4 Months. Also as a new Employee you can't make any plans the CAS ( Crew Assignment Section) trys to control your life. They can change your Tour and Days off every week but do it in A Div every two weeks and B Div every 6 months. The A and B crew office do things diffrent the A Div don't care about you while the B Div is more understanding. The Tours go by reporting times Mid (22:00 to 03:59) AM (4:00 to 11:59) PM (12:00 to 22:59). The avarage Extra list waits are C/R's 1 Year T/O's 2 Years. When your Extra you can and will be placed Extra Board at least once a week. Sometimes its a strait up board report or get bounced to the Board if the Regular person returns to work. The way Extra Board works you reports to a Location like Bedford Pk Bronx at 13:00. Your sitting at the terminal waiting for a job to open up some where not only the line you where assigned to. In most cases at 15:00 they will say Extra Board T/O at Bedford Pk your picking up a whole job at Parsons E Line starts at 16:29. Now you will have to traval from Bedford PK to Parsons E Line by train we call it (Deadheading). You will get overtime between 13:00 to 16:29 which is 3 Hrs 29 Minutes and traval time. Now you get there hand fine its a 9 HR job so you working from 16:29 to 1:30AM. Its one long day and you will be tried the only good thing is payday. I done days like that all the time when I was Extra list I was so happy to pick a job when the time came.

Also in RTO we have cold weather plans when train have to be layed up underground which effects every employee if your extra or not its this simple. When a cold weather plan goes in effect Express trains make local stops. If your scheduled to lay up a train you will lay it up underground which will case you to have a late clears and clear at a diffrent location. Like you may be working the B Line suppose to lay up at Concourse YD in the Bx but instead lay up along the express trains under 6 AV and finish at W 4 ST. If your scheduled for a Put In out of the Yard you will have a ER (Early Report) means you come in 3 Hours early and may be a diffrent location to find your train. Like if you worked the B Line with a Put in at Concourse Yd reporting time 5AM. Now your coming in at 2AM at W 4ST where your will find and prepare your train for service and take it light to Bedford PK and leave that terminal at your regular leaving time.

 

Now we finally get to the stresses of the job. Before I get to the Three C's we got the Train/Yard Dispatchers and Train Service supervisors. When you sign on the payroll to report to work or laying over in a terminal between trips your under the supervision of the Train Dispatcher. If your report to work late they are suppose to write you up and call the Crew assignment section to inform them of your lateness and your time will be cut. You will also be writen up. If you are a no show over 2 HRS your marked AWAL and sent home. You then report to Labor relation and they put you back to work. They will also write you up if you get on your train late so you MUST make sure you write down your currect schedule. We sometimes run a suppliment schedule to replace the regular schedule. This happens when Genaral orders are in effect and you must know all G.O's that effect your train. The T/D can also order you to Jump ahead meaning one train interval ahead even on your Lunch break. You are being paid for Lunch.

Now when you work in the Yard your under the Yard Dispatcher supervision they tell you what track your taking a train from and to where.

When your out on the Mainline with your train,Customers and Conductor your ( Train Operator) are under the orders of your Conductor, Local Supervison and Control center. You also have Train Service supervisors in the field to randomly check out your operation and your partner to make sure all NYCT-RTO rules are being enforced. Any time an incident happens they will be called to respond to your train to get you moving again. If you move before they show up they are still called to respond to you enroute so they can interview the train crew to see what happen and if any rules where violated and to check to make sure the crew is fit for duty. They also investigate all complaints involing train crews. They sometimes conduct efficancy testing T/O: Make signal go red then hide in a Emergancy Exit to see if the T/O illegal keys by the signal. They also do rador checks they will stand at the end of a platform where the train is suppose to come in at reduced speed. C/R's: Remove the C/R indication board to see if the C/R opens the doors or not. They also check C/R's and T/O's for safety equipment. Now to the three C's

Customers : When things go wrong and service is messed up they all come over and surround you. Everyone wants thier own individual answer and right away while you got 50 of them around you and at the same time your Conductor is asking you questions on the PA and Control center talking to you on the radio. Thats when you have to get your priarity in order. The main thing is no matter what the situation is your always in the public eye and you must remain calm and handle it the best way you can. You have situation where the Emergancy Cord is pulled and you have to reset it. Now you don't know what your walking into it could be someone doing it for fun or a fight and maybe a medical emergency you must be prepared for anything. While your investigating you got to deal with people yelling at you about the train being stopped when annoucements been made. They always ask you "How long is thing delay going to take" "You people always do this"! The best I hear and one person alway have to say this "You lazy TA workers are going for nothing! Im giving you the nice version. Then the worst case situation most of us T/O face are those who feel they need to end thier life by jumping in front of your train. I seen T/O's end thier career over a jumper.

 

Conductor : Yes they can case you stress too. The Conductor is a title under a T/O but they are in charge of the train. They are told to report the T/O to Control center Via radio if you (T/O) messes up. That includes Station overruns, Signal overruns or any time the Emergency Brakes are activated for any reason. They are also required to report to control center if they feel the T/O is operating unsafe or too fast and if you make too many hard stops. When the Conductor does report thier T/O to the Control Center then Control will dispatch a Train Service supervisor to check the T/O out for Fitness for duty and even remove the the T/O from service.

 

Control Center: There are the onces you report all your problems to and get information on service disruptions. Any time you have a problem with your train you must communicate with them about your problem and as your investigating you must update them every time they ask for one which is about every 4 Minutes. Every thing you tell them is being recorded and will be used against you if it becomes an incident. If you have an incident and you tell two diffrant stories they will pick up on it and charge you. Every thing you do from the time you report something to when your moving again is being put into the Computer at Control center. They are typeing you information in a timely matter. Every thing you did and what your partner did to the TSS is being typed up in a incident report. If the incident results in a customer injury or possable rule violations the Control center will order the one or both crew members to be removed from service and go for incident testing. Then after that you will report to Labor relations and they will tell you the charges your facing. They will also have a print out of the incident report from the Control center.

That is some of the situations a Train Operator may face.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have noticed they been starting New T/O's on the Midnight tour so its a very real possablity. When I got promoted I was put on Midnights and hated every minute of it but I did it for 4 Months.

 

A little OT, but I am doing overnights now. I made a swap with a fellow operator, so now I have to adjust to something I have never done before. Going to sleep at 1100hrs waking up at 2030hrs. It's a big adjustment. But there is more money in it for me, by 7hrs extra a week. He took a pay cut by loosing 7 hrs a weeks. Why, he wanted to do a swap I don't know. But if its any indication of what happened to me this morning, then I suspect he done something or pissed off a dispatcher. A dispatcher (usually there), and a Road Superintendent (not usually there) were out today, and asked me if this was a swap for today, and where is the other driver. I told them it's for the rest of the pick, and he does my former work. When I cleared this morning, the same Super was up in the transportation crew room, trying to print out what seemed to be his (my former work) run. They seemed pissed off, but the dispatcher said "your doing a very good job". I don't want to speculate but it seems, he must of been fooling around on the line or something.

 

Oh well, a few more Benjamins for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if the conductor rats the train operator out, then wouldn't the train operators like OPTO?

 

Yes, in a way. The TO would get paid more, but have much more responsibility. As well, without the CR, there is nobody to turn is a bad TO, and there is a lack of a "starting position" for the subway as well. But

OPTO also is a little threatening along with CBTC in that it could eventually lead to ATO, and no more TOs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, in a way. The TO would get paid more, but have much more responsibility. As well, without the CR, there is nobody to turn is a bad TO, and there is a lack of a "starting position" for the subway as well. But

OPTO also is a little threatening along with CBTC in that it could eventually lead to ATO, and no more TOs.

 

IIRC, Washington D.C. has ATO on some lines, but still have T/Os. The reason is, if the CPU malfunctions then they need someone on board to override the system and operate the train normally. They are trained as if there was no ATO. So I doubt NYCTA would remove any T/Os. The C/R on the other hand......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if the conductor rats the train operator out, then wouldn't the train operators like OPTO?

 

I don't think T/O like looking down a platform with 510 to 600 ft of train, some of which are on curves. Monitors ain't going to help that much for trains of these lengths, due to the fact that by the time the T/O scans from one to another, someone can be getting on in a car, next to a monitor already scanned. It will be a short while before someone gets dragged. Heck, it has happened already with C/R in the middle of trains.

 

Fear of being ratted out doesn't outweigh increased responsibility, that you will be on the hook for, if something goes wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't stand Midnights I be falling out after 4AM I was never able to get more the 4hrs of Sleep in the afternoon. On my RDO's I sleep away the first one.

ATO is dead right they spent too much money on the project and still can't get it to work.

 

OPTO: It really isn't too bad I know a few T/O that love it. It only 300FT they run a four car train when doing OPTO. However more pay and responablity you have to do proper door operation and if someone claims they got dragged your going downtown for it.

I was thinking about going OPTO for Next pick I was going to do the G Line on Wkends but decided not too because I still able to pick in Upper Manhattan for Wkends which is closer for me.

 

Now to deal with the whole C/R and T/O issue its really what you make of it. The C/R got a job to do and a family to feed. If a Supervisor is on your train and the something happens and the C/R doesn't report it the C/R is in trouble for covering for the T/O. I don't let myself get cought up in that drama I do what I am suppose to. I have yet to have a problem with a C/R.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to add. The best way to learn about being a T/O is to be a C/R first. If you start out as a C/R you won't have to learn a whole lot of stuff at one time. Being a C/R allows you to learn how the Systerm works and learn all the proceedures before going into the Hot seat. Then when you move up to T/O you just have to focus on the Train Control and line ups. Then you also learn some new Proceedures for Yard Movement. When you go directly to T/O you have to learn everything in one shot and do it in 3 Months (A Div) or 6 Months ( B Div). Also when you start out as a C/R or any former title you have something to go back to if something happens so when it comes time to Judgement and they feel they want to remove you from the T/O position you can be demoted instead of Terminated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.