Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

Last September, Network Rail’s award-winning advanced apprenticeship scheme took on 201 apprentices across Britain, having received a staggering 4,150 applications. These trainees have just begun a three-year programme to become skilled maintenance engineering technicians. They will spend a year training alongside the Royal Navy at Europe’s largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Hampshire, where they will learn both the technical skills required to work on the railway as well as attending leadership courses. They will continue their training for two further years on-the-job at depots across the country, returning to HMS Sultan for additional courses and learning. The apprentices will specialise in track, signalling and telecoms, electrification and plant, property works and mechanical locking.

Steve Featherstone, director of infrastructure maintenance at Network Rail says, ‘Britain relies on rail so it is vital to invest in our people and our future with apprenticeships. We’re training the next generation of specialists with the latest technology to deliver this success in a modern, efficient way – it’s a career that brings great value to Britain. The scheme underlines Network Rail’s commitment to deliver a bigger, better-value railway with skilled and committed people.’

On completion of the course, apprentices will have the skills and qualifications – NVQ, BTEC and ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) – to develop a long-term career with Network Rail. Many apprentices set their sights on becoming technical officers, team leaders or managers. There are even further opportunities to study for a foundation degree for those who demonstrate the commitment and ability.

To register your interest in applying for the course in future, visit http://careers.networkrail.co.uk/apprentices and click on ‘Register now’. In the meantime, to find out more about working in the rail sector, take a look at our feature in this issue.

Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

Applications for the 2011 scheme started this January. If you will be over 17 by 11 September 2011, and have four GCSEs at grades A–C (or equivalent), or four Scottish Standard grades 1–3 (or equivalent), including English, maths and science or engineering, you are eligible to apply. To register, visit http://careers.networkrail.co.uk/apprentices and click on ‘Register now’.

In the meantime, to find out more about working in the rail sector, take a look at our feature in this issue.

Degrees must match business needs

Network Rail has warned that Britain risks a generation of graduates no more employable than school leavers unless universities and business work together more efficiently to deliver a programme that is practical and relevant to the commercial world. The company, which is in charge of running, maintaining and developing Britain’s railways, highlighted the worrying trend of candidates with little or no awareness of how business operates – and, in some cases, engineering graduates with a surprising lack of understanding of the basics.

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher comments that, ‘The partnerships we have with a number of universities produce many graduates ready for work and who will make a genuine contribution, yet we’re also seeing a worrying increase in graduate candidates who have little more to offer than school leavers. Many have seemingly coasted through university without getting any sort of a grasp of the realities of business.

‘In these tough and competitive times, students must do more to make themselves ready for work. Universities and businesses must play their part in shaping learning that will be meaningful, practical and valuable to prospective employers.’

With this in mind, Network Rail has launched a pilot programme that will see a group of five graduates acting as envoys for the company and creating a link to their former universities. They will help to arrange for expert engineers from the company to speak in lectures, or provide information on the industry that may be useful for students.

In addition, its links with universities include developing railway-specific programmes such as the MSc in project management; working with lecturers to inform course content, and provide scenarios and real-life projects to work on; provide visiting professors for lectures, and collaborate on research projects to modernise and improve the railway.

If you are considering a career in the rail sector, please take a look at the relevant feature on our website: www.questonline.co.uk.

Published January 2011

£8bn investment for railways

Plans for an £8 billion investment in Britain’s railways have been announced by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond. These are due to include the purchase of around 2,000 new carriages, the electrification of some lines, and pressing ahead with the Thameslink programme – all of which, it is hoped, will generate more jobs in the rail sector.
Details of the plans include:

up to 1,200 carriages for the Thameslink programme (Bedford to Brighton through London), although the programme will be completed two years later than originally planned
electrification of commuter services on the Great Western route between London and Didcot, Oxford and Newbury over the next six years
electrification of the lines between Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackpool (although electrification of the London–Swansea line has been delayed).

Network Rail finance director Patrick Butcher greeted the announcement positively, saying: ‘We welcome the fact that the government recognises that the railway plays an important role in driving economic growth, and this investment proves that.’

Published January 2011

Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

In September, Network Rail’s award-winning advanced apprenticeship scheme took on 201 apprentices across Britain, having received a staggering 4,150 applications. These trainees have just begun a three-year programme to become skilled maintenance engineering technicians. They will spend a year training alongside the Royal Navy at Europe’s largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Hampshire, where they will learn both the technical skills required to work on the railway as well as attending leadership courses.

They will continue their training for two further years on-the-job at depots across the country, returning to HMS Sultan for additional courses and learning. The apprentices will specialise in track, signalling and telecoms, electrification and plant, property works and mechanical locking.

On completion of the course, apprentices will have the skills and qualifications – NVQ, BTec and ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) – to develop a long-term career with Network Rail. Many apprentices set their sights on becoming technical officers, team leaders or managers. There are even further opportunities to study for a foundation degree for those who demonstrate the commitment and ability.

Applications for 2010 may be closed, but you can sign up to receive information about the 2011 scheme when it becomes available (applications start in January 2011). If you will be over 17 by 11 September 2011, and have four GCSEs at grades A–C (or equivalent), or four Scottish Standard grades 1–3 (or equivalent), including English, maths and science or engineering, you are eligible to apply. To register, visit http://careers.networkrail.co.uk /apprentices and click on ‘Register now’.

In the meantime, to find out more about working in the rail sector, take a look at our feature on page 42.

Published November 2010

New jobs on track to build a better railway

Network Rail is creating more than 300 skilled engineering jobs in the next year to help deliver some of Britain’s most vital rail infrastructure projects. The projects will help transform the capital’s transport system and bring about massive improvements for passengers and freight users across the country.

As schemes such as Thameslink, Crossrail and Reading advance, there is a need to bring on board more skilled specialists and project engineers to deliver these value-for-money schemes. The roles will be varied across many specialisms including civils, signalling, electrical and general project management.

Around half of the roles will be based in London and the south-east, working on the aforementioned Thameslink, Crossrail and Reading projects across a number of disciplines. However, engineers will also be based across the country in Swindon, Manchester, Birmingham and York.

Iain Coucher, Network Rail chief executive, comments: ‘Creating these jobs and bolstering our engineering talent will help us deliver the better railway that is vital for the economic prosperity of this country. The work they will do will transform how people travel across the capital, and make a massive difference to passengers and freight users right across Britain.’

Mr Coucher also echoed comments made earlier in the year about attracting more talented women to the industry: ‘We want the best to work for us – both men and women – and I hope that, as we continue to show our modern business and the opportunities that we offer, we can attract exceptional women to apply for these roles and be part of something fantastic.’

Liz Wilson, project manager on the Thameslink programme commented on her experience: ‘I’m working in a really exciting industry with tremendous opportunities to work on critical projects for the economy. Knowing that every day I’m helping to build a better railway for the people of Britain is really rewarding. There are great opportunities for both men and women in this industry, and I hope by talking about my role I can persuade more exceptional women to get involved and use their skills to full advantage.’

If you are considering a career in the rail industry, take a look at our feature on page 24.

Published August 2010

Network Rail seeks new (female) recruits

A campaign recently launched by Network Rail aims to attract more talented women to the company. Describing the scheme on its website (www.networkrail.co.uk), it says: ‘We are a modern, innovative company, using state-of-the-art technology, and need a highly skilled workforce to maintain and deliver a successful and growing railway. But not enough exceptional women apply for jobs with us. Our new recruitment campaign aims to attract more talented women to the company, further improving the overall skills of our workforce and addressing the male/female balance. To start with, we are focusing on attracting more women to our award-winning Advanced Apprenticeship scheme, which, since its inception in 2005, has received only around 2% of applications from women.

To find out more about careers in the rail industry, see our article on page 22.

Published April 2010

High-speed rail network on track

Britain’s high-speed rail network was officially unveiled last month when Transport Secretary Lord Adonis presented detailed plans for the 335-mile network to Parliament, commenting ‘High speed rail is a policy of huge strategic significance. The time has come to create a credible plan and for this to be a national cause.’

The route will – using 250mph trains – cut travelling times between London and Birmingham from one hour 24 minutes to 49 minutes. It will fork north of Birmingham, with one branch going towards Manchester and Liverpool and on to Scotland, and the other to Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne. Journey times between London and Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield will come down from more than two hours to between 75 and 80 minutes. Journeys from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh will be cut by an hour, to just three and a half hours.

In east London, a link with the Crossrail project would provide a fast route to Heathrow Airport in 11 minutes. In addition, the government is still considering giving the west London airport its own terminus for high-speed trains.
Although the new network will cost £30 billion, it is set to generate £2 of benefits for every £1 spent. The scheme will create a total of 10,000 jobs. Work – due to start in 2017 – would take up to a decade. Lord Adonis said the plan was a ‘step change’ for Britain and that the new capacity on the already overcrowded rail network would stimulate economic growth.

Published April 2010

Full steam ahead for high-speed rail network?

High Speed Two (HS2) – a governmentcreated company – has been drawing up plans to develop a highspeed rail network to run initially from London to Birmingham, and ultimately via Manchester to Scotland (a decision on the exact routes is expected by this April).

One of the major reasons behind the plans is to eliminate polluting domestic flights, which is why the scheme includes a proposal to link the highspeed line with Heathrow airport. By slashing journey times from London to Scotland to under three hours, it is hoped that such flights will become redundant.

The track will be capable of carrying trains at speeds of up to an astonishing 250 mph – a speed that current passenger trains are incapable of matching. French designers are, however, already developing trains that can travel at up to 225 mph – such speeds would cut the journey time from London to Birmingham from over 80 minutes to about half an hour.

The development and implementation of the new network looks likely to cost at least £25 billion and will, of course, offer a host of job opportunities in this sector. The government hopes to obtain allparty support for the new line, and to start work on the project by 2015, with the line due to be completed by 2025.

Published February 2010

Rail Industry - Despatches

Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

Degrees must match business needs

£8bn investment for railways

Get on track to a bright future in the rail industry

New jobs on track to build a better railway

Network Rail seeks new (female) recruits

High-speed rail network on track

Full steam ahead for high-speed rail network?