Media centre

Thursday 8 Dec 2005

LEEDS OPERATIONS TRAINING CENTRE OFFICIALLY OPENED

Region & Route:

Guests gathered today as Councillor Andrew Carter, Leader of Leeds City Council, officially opened Network Rail’s world-class new operations training centre in Leeds. The multi-million pound complex will train new and existing signallers and other operations employees, including station staff, using both teaching in classrooms and simulator technology.  Around 250 operations employees will pass through the centre each year. A similar number will also be trained at a ‘sister’ centre in Watford. Rail traffic has increased by 30% since 1996, a trend that is set to continue with more pressure to relieve road congestion by getting more people and goods off the road and onto rail.  At the same time, the industry has given a commitment to reducing delays and increasing the number of on-time trains.  The role of signallers and other operations staff in the day to day running of the railway is vital. Neil Henry, General Manager, Network Rail said: “Since taking over the rail infrastructure, Network Rail has been keen to invest in its people by raising standards of training, equipment used and in achieving greater consistency across the business. “We are raising the bar on operations training and competency, and we are very proud to open this new centre in the heart of West Yorkshire which will play a key role in improving the overall performance of the railway.” Following a plaque unveiling invited guests took a tour of the centre and tried their hand at the signalling simulators and model train set.