Tuesday 2 Feb 2010
YORKSHIRE JOB SEEKERS INVITED TO GET CAREER ON TRACK
- Region & Route:
Aspiring engineers in Yorkshire are being urged not to miss out on a highly coveted place on Network Rail’s award winning apprenticeship scheme.
The scheme recruits over 200 young people each year, and applications for places starting this September are flooding in, but there are still vacancies – especially in South Yorkshire and Humberside.
This week is National Apprenticeship Week (1-5 Feb) and Network Rail is encouraging both men and women to go for an exciting and challenging career on the railway.
Richard Lungmuss, London North Eastern route director for Network Rail said: “This is an exciting time to start at Network Rail with so many opportunities for both men and women to be part of our railway revolution. Our apprentices will become the backbone of our company. We will give them the skills to build a challenging career that looks after three million people a day and is vital to the economy.
Matthew Millar, 19 from Winterton near Scunthorpe joined Network Rail’s advanced apprenticeship scheme in 2008. Now in his second year, Matthew is based at Scunthorpe depot where he is specialising in signalling and telecoms. Speaking about the scheme, Matthew said: “The best thing about this apprenticeship scheme is that it gives you a great chance to develop your skills as well as gaining new. The Network Rail values - teamwork, pride, determination and respect - are adopted from the beginning and are maintained right the way through. The variety of learning available helps prepare each apprentice as a versatile asset to Network Rail and provide a rewarding career.
“Unlike other apprenticeships, this scheme incorporates a recognised leadership and management qualification helping to put you in good stead for a managerial position later in your career. “
In their first year, apprentices are based Europe’s largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Gosport, Hampshire, with their second and third years spent at their designated local depot, learning on the job with experienced teams. Sharing facilities with the Royal Navy means they can take advantage of the state-of-the-art recreation and sports facilities including a gym, swimming pool, squash courts, playing fields, outdoor tennis courts, water sports and other organised activities.
Anyone interested is encouraged to visit the website http://careers.networkrail.co.uk/apprentices where they can find out more about the scheme, watch a video of two of Network Rail’s first year apprentices and see profiles of current apprentices who talk about what they get out of the scheme.
Notes to editors
About the scheme
A three-year programme that equips you with the skills and experience to become a maintenance engineering technician. One of the first things you need to do is decide which area of engineering you want to focus on.
There are seven engineering programmes: track, signals, electrification & 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 your first year, you will be paid £8,400 + £1,150 when you 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 you, pay for your accommodation and provide the clothing and personal protective equipment that you need – including safety boots, cargo trousers and a fleece. There are plenty of holidays: 28 days plus bank holidays in total. Again in your first year, your leave is planned for you and Network Rail will pay for you to travel home for long weekends and Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.
Qualifications: After three years, you 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.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office -London North Eastern & East Midlands route
01904 383180
mediarelations@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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