Rail Professional January 2010

RECRUITMENT
TRaININg the ENgINEERs
of the fUTURE
When Tube Lines found itself facing a shortage
T
ube Lines
of engineers, it introduced an apprenticeship
programme and built its own training centre
T
he rail industry is facing a serious skills shortage in engineering.
Network Rail had to resort to flying in 12 mechanical engineers
from India to help with the West Coast Main Line upgrade during
one of its possessions in 2004. More recently, managers of Crossrail have
said that the shortage of engineers is one of the most serious challenges
the project faces.
The main problem is the age profile of the engineering profession
working on the railways. A significant number are due to retire in the
next few years, but there simply are not sufficient numbers of engineering
apprentices
graduates coming out of university to replace them.
at Tube lines’
skills Training
When Tube Lines started seven years ago, it faced a serious shortage of
Centre in skills. So in 2005, the engineering company invested £10m in a specialist
stratford, east
Skills Training Centre in Stratford. The centre introduced state-of-the-
london.
art facilities, including five full-size lengths of track to enable practical
training on infrastructure, points and signalling. Four of these tracks are
exact replicas of those currently used on the London Underground, with
a fifth track allowing for training on the new systems being introduced by
line upgrades. An interlocking machine room contains all the equipment
needed to control each of the tracks.
As a result of its highly-regarded apprenticeship training and
development scheme, the PPP contractor has become the second largest
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employer of apprentices in London, with the intake for 2009 growing
Rail Professional is the leading business-to-business magazine for
by 19 per cent. Tube Lines now boasts a full complement of workers –
today’s modern industry. Ensure that you keep in touch with
and its innovative approach to recruitment has not gone unnoticed. In
developments by taking out a subscription today. 2009, the company, which carries out upgrades and maintenance on the
underground, was awarded Large Employer of the Year in the National
Name:
Apprentice Awards.
Company: Position/title: Liza Okafor, Tube Lines’ apprentice co-ordinator said: ‘Apprentices have
Address:
become a highly valued part of our company and help us keep competitive
in a tough recruitment market. We currently have 81 apprentices on the
programme. Past and present apprentices account for 10 per cent of the
company’s operational headcount. We have a retention rate of 97 per
Tel: Fax:
cent, which is well above the national average for railway operations.’
Email: Tube Lines runs a four-year apprenticeship scheme and proactively
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recruits under-represented groups within engineering, such as women
(UK residents only – overseas residents, please call
+44 (0)1223 477411 for details)
and ethnic minority groups. The Tube Lines model has been so successful
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that it is now helping one of its contractors implement an apprentice
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apprentices.
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When Tube Lines started seven years ago, it
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faced a serious shortage of skills. Since then, the
Cambridge, CB5 8JE. Or fax with credit card details to 01223 327356
PPP contractor has become the second largest
employer of apprentices in London
38 RaIl pRofEssIoNal : JANUARY 2010
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