Friday 21 Sep 2012
More apprentices in the West join the rail revolution
- Region & Route:
- | Wales & Western: Western
- | Wales & Western
Network Rail has taken on further 190 promising apprentices to its award winning three-year programme, where they will train to become skilled maintenance engineering technicians, after the company received more than 6,500 applications.
They include 26 apprentices on the Western route, who will be working from depots in Paddington, Westbourne Park, Reading, Newbury, Didcot, Swindon, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth..
With the recent green light by government for additional investment in Britain’s railways, including electrification of the Great Western route from London Paddington to Bristol, today’s apprentice could tomorrow be part of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country.
Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail’s managing director for the Western route, said: "We’ve recruited smart and enthusiastic young men and women with a variety of work experience, education and backgrounds, who we will train to become skilled engineering technicians.
"With the big projects we have ahead of us we need more exceptional people to deliver a better value and efficient railway. Today’s apprentice will, once trained, be part of a 35,000-strong team who every day help millions to get where they need to be safely and on time.
He added: “We now have the building blocks in place so that beyond their apprenticeships, our best people can undertake a higher national certificate, a foundation degree and then a full degree in engineering. They can earn while they learn and go as far as their aptitude, attitude and ambition can take them.”
The apprentices will spend a year training alongside the Royal Navy at Europe’s largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Hampshire. Here they will learn both the technical skills required to work on the railway and develop leadership and teamwork behaviours to make them more effective in their roles.
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 specialise in track, signalling and telecoms and electrification and plant. This year, Network Rail is also training apprentices for its contractors Balfour Beatty, Costain and Nexus.
Notes to editors
About the Network Rail Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme
A three-year programme that equips you with the skills and experience to become a maintenance engineering technician.
There are seven engineering programmes: track, signals, electrification and plant, signal design, property works, mechanical locking and telecoms. Each one gives you the chance to work in a critical area of the business, where your development will continue beyond the three years of the scheme.
Paid learning
In the first year, apprentices will be paid £8,400 + £1,150 when they successfully finish the year; the salary will rise to £11,750 in the second; and £14,000 in the third.
In the first year, Network Rail will also feed, pay for accommodation and provide the clothing and personal protective equipment that they need – including safety boots, cargo trousers and a fleece. There are plenty of holidays: 28 days plus bank holidays in total. Network Rail will pay for apprentices to travel home for long weekends and Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.
Qualifications
After three years, apprentices will have the qualifications (NVQ, BTec and ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management)) and skills to develop a long-term career with Network Rail. Many apprentices complete their first year and soon start to think about their career options – and many set their sights on becoming technical officers, team leaders or managers. There are even further opportunities to study a foundation degree for those who demonstrate the commitment and ability.
Visit: http://careers.networkrail.co.uk/apprentices for more information on Network Rail's advanced apprentice scheme
Contact information
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03457 11 41 41
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MediaRelationsWestern@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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