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Rail Crew Tests

Chiltern Railways train manager assessment

London Marylebone to Birmingham, Oxford and Aylesbury

Chiltern’s published process is compact and cautiously worded: an application of a few straightforward questions, then — “you may be invited to” — an online aptitude questionnaire done at home or at one of Chiltern’s testing sessions, then an in-person assessment day of activities and tests tailored to the role, where assessors look at how you work in a group as well as on your own. An interview is usually the final step.

The individual tests are not named anywhere public, so we have not invented a list. A rules test and ticket checking are the most likely content given what neighbouring operators use, but that is inference rather than fact.

How much we know

This page rests on a single detailed account of the process. Treat it as a guide to what to expect, not a statement of what you will sit.

In order

The Chiltern Railways selection stages

This is not an official Chiltern Railways process description. Your invitation letter is the authority for your own.

  1. 01Online application — a few straightforward questions
  2. 02Online aptitude questionnaire, at home or at one of Chiltern’s testing sessions
  3. 03In-person assessment day — a range of activities and tests, assessed both in a group and on your own
  4. 04Interview, usually the final step
  5. 05Safety-critical medical, with medical standards and drug and alcohol testing

Detail

Worth knowing about Chiltern Railways

Practice

What to practise for Chiltern Railways

Matched to the stages above. Every demo is free and needs no account.

Every process on this list ends in a competency interview. Our guide to the interview and the role play covers the competencies operators assess and how to structure an answer, and the process guide sets out every stage across the sector.

Before you apply elsewhere

Not every operator has an on-board grade

If you are comparing operators, these run driver-only services and have no conductor or guard job to apply for:

c2c
Driver-only operation on the London, Tilbury and Southend route. No conductor or guard grade.
Elizabeth line
Driver-only operation. The concession changed hands in May 2025 and is now run by GTS Rail Operations; its frontline grades are customer and revenue roles, not a conductor grade.
London Overground
Driver-only. The concession passed to First Rail London in May 2026, but the brand and the six named lines are unchanged, and the frontline grades are station and revenue roles.
Heathrow Express
Driver-only, and run by GWR under a management contract, so its train crew hiring goes through GWR rather than Heathrow Express itself.
Thameslink and Great Northern
No conductor or guard grade — these run driver-only. Both do advertise a Passenger Host grade, which is revenue, customer and security work without door or dispatch duties. Southern, in the same group, is different — see its page.
Freight operators
Freight trains have not carried guards since single-manning in the 1980s. Note the naming trap: GB Railfreight advertises “Train Manager” and “Trainee Train Manager” vacancies that are train driver roles, and asks for a driver psychometric pass within the last five years.

Compare

Other operators that employ on-board crew

Compiled from publicly posted applicant accounts and operator job adverts, September 2026. Processes change without notice — your invitation letter is the only authority on what you will sit. The individual tests on the Chiltern assessment day are not identified anywhere public, and the stages come from Chiltern’s apprenticeship page.