Media centre

Thursday 18 Jun 2009

JOBSEEKERS IN LINE FOR SIXTEEN NEW RAILWAY ROLES

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail and Carillion Construction, working with their in-house recruitment business SkyBlue, are to select 16 new recruits from the community to work on the new £300m* Transport Scotland funded Airdrie-Bathgate rail link.

The programme is specifically designed to recruit candidates from the long term unemployed who will receive training before being deployed on the main construction operations from July this year.

The successful applicants will be trained in two groups of eight, funded and delivered by Skills Development Scotland. The three-week course will consist of basic health and safety, general plant and construction site training.

Ron McAulay, Network Rail director, Scotland commented:

“The new Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link will bring huge long term benefits to communities throughout West Lothian and North Lanarkshire and these 16 new roles are just the tip of the iceberg. Each new employee will come from the area and will be selected from the ranks of the long term unemployed.

“Working on this project will open up new opportunities to the chosen candidates. Not only will they have a fantastic opportunity to help build a new railway, they will learn some valuable new skills along the way.”

Bill Reeve, director of rail delivery at Transport Scotland added:

“This excellent initiative clearly demonstrates the long term economic benefits that accrue from major projects like the Airdrie-Bathgate rail link. The opportunities and experience which these trainees will gain will be invaluable as they move forward in their careers.

“I’m delighted that through the Scottish Government's impressive transport investment programme, Scotland's most valuable asset - its people - have access to opportunities which provide a firm footing for their future, their community’s future and the future of Scotland’s rail industry.”

SkyBlue Scotland Area Manager, Tonia Quarrell-Small commented:

“Carillion and SkyBlue working with our partner Jobcentre Plus have a long history of working with local people to help them gain employment within the Carillion group.”

The construction work began in earnest last month, and spans 22 km from Drumgelloch in the west to Bathgate in the east. The work has been split into five sections, each of which has its own demanding programme. There are 32 bridges, four stations and numerous culverts spaced out along the 22 km, many of which are being constructed at the same time.

* At Q1 2006 costs