Friday 5 Dec 2025
Transpennine Route Upgrade amongst apprenticeship royalty
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
Gateshead College’s PlanBEE apprenticeship programme has been awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education. One of the many extensions of the scheme is PlanBEE Rail, which the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) played a driving role in founding.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education is the highest national honour a Further Education College can receive. The award-winning scheme, PlanBEE, was launched in 2016 to help attract and retain talent in the built environment and construction sector.
It was in 2024, though, when PlanBEE Rail came to fruition as a unique higher apprenticeship programme designed to recruit and nurture the next generation of multi-disciplinary project managers.
TRU was a founding sponsor of the scheme and took on a cohort of apprentices at its inception, giving young people in the North of England the opportunity to launch their careers in the rail industry.
Those apprentices are now in their second year, and upon completion of the two-year programme, they will have rotated around four different employers to gain experience from different rail projects across the North. Other sponsors include: Amco Griffin, Amey, ARUP, Aureos, Balfour Beatty, BAM, DfT, Jacobs, Morgan Sindall, Mott Macdonald, Murphy, Network Rail, RPS, Socotec, Systra, TransPennine Express, and VolkerRail.
David Bassett, Apprentice & Graduate Programmes Manager for TRU, said:
“We are delighted that PlanBEE has been deservedly recognised with such a prestigious award, and are really proud to be a part of it.
“The PlanBEE apprenticeship model has proven highly valuable for the Transpennine Route Upgrade, enabling apprentices to gain experience across multiple TRU partners while developing new skills and building professional connections that will benefit both their future careers and the success of the programme.”
“We have recently taken on a second cohort and along with other sponsors, are excited by their ongoing development. We’d like to congratulate Gateshead College and thank everyone involved across the scheme for their commitment to something truly unique.”
The PlanBEE Rail apprentices also contribute to TRU’s aim of recruiting 590 apprentices across the programme lifespan, with the current tally at 439. Involvement in the scheme also aligns with TRU’s commitment to provide Northern jobs, ensuring the workforce reflects the rich diversity of the communities it serves.
Notes to Editors
The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a multi-billion-pound railway programme that will transform journeys across the North, better connecting towns and cities like Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
TRU fast facts
- TRU is a £10.7bn railway upgrade programme
- 25% of the route is now electrified, with electric train services now running between Manchester and Stalybridge, and York and Church Fenton
- Once complete, TRU aims to halve the time lost to delays
- There are currently 70 worksites across the 70-mile route
- TRU will deliver:
- The full electrification of the line
- Double the amount of tracks in key locations, allowing fast trains to overtake stopping services
- Implement digital signalling to increase speed and capacity
- Improve all 23 stations on the route, supporting accessibility
- TRU has over 5000 staff, with 85% coming from within 40 miles of the route – TRU will have created over 8000 jobs across the duration of the programme
- TRU is expanding freight provision, opening 15 extra freight paths and widening tunnels so shipping containers can travel between ports on the east and west coasts via rail, removing over 1000 lorries a day from the busy roads across the Pennines
Key milestones to date
- New station built at Morley
- Introduction of a fully accessible platform 2 at Castleford station to support diverted services between York and Manchester
- £100m upgrade of diversionary routes completed ahead of major works across the Transpennine Route, increasing railway resilience
- Upgrade of Hope Valley line complete, with a second platform built at Dore & Totley, as well as 1km of additional track at Bamford to reduce bottlenecks
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