Thousands of extra rail apprentices will be needed in the
coming years as the network grows rapidly, and the
government is investing £1 billion in the Great North
Rail Project up until 2020.
The Alstom Academy for Rail in Widnes, Cheshire, is due
to take on 20 new apprentices this autumn, and offer
further 30 apprenticeship places to current Alstom staff.
The numbers will rise to 135 by 2021.
Transport Secretary said:
Our rail network is growing and I have been clear we
will need thousands more people working in the sector
in the years ahead.
I’m delighted to open Alstom’s top class new Rail
Academy will help train up the next generation of
talent.
We are investing £13 billion in transport across the
north and there are some great, rewarding careers
working on our railways.
The Alstom Academy for Rail will be giving young people
and mature employees a rounded education and will work
with other education providers to deliver its
apprenticeship programs. Students will take engineering
classes at local colleges such as Riverside College and
then learn rail specific skills at the academy.
Nick Crossfield, Managing Director at Alstom UK &
Ireland, said:
Today we celebrate a fantastic new industrial facility
for the UK, and even more importantly, our first intake
of new apprentices.
In year one the Alstom Academy for Rail will train 20
apprentices, 5 of whom have been taken on to help
repaint the iconic Pendolino trains right here in
Widnes.
It is a particularly proud moment for us to welcome the
Secretary of State to see our progress on that project,
because it demonstrates how transport contracts can
deliver real jobs and training on the ground.
Not just creating a better railway, but also building a
new generation of highly skilled railway engineers.
The training that students undertake will include safety
and maintenance of vehicles such as Alstom’s Pendolino
trains which are used on the West Coast Mainline, or the
Citadis trams that are used in Nottingham.
Alongside the academy, Alstom are repainting 56 Pendolino
trains next to the training academy in their train
modernisation facility, for use by Virgin on the West
Coast Main Line.
The team is 80-strong and includes 5 new apprentices who
will work on the project.
