RECRUITMENT
John Hayes, Minister
for
Education, Skills & Lifelong Learning, launched the rail industry’s Apprenticeship to Fellowship scheme at NSARE’s fi rst major conference on June 22 at the IMechE.
Nearly 200 industry representa- tives attended the conference, chaired by Terry Morgan, chair- man of Crossrail.
Record number of gradu- ates join FirstGroup
FirstGroup has announced a re- cord number of applicants for its UK graduate schemes.
It has chosen 17 graduates, out of the 749 applicants, to join its workforce from September follow- ing a four-day induction at its Ab- erdeen headquarters.
Linda Guthrie, FirstGroup’s Head of Learning and Development, said she was overwhelmed by the response, adding: “Our graduate schemes are always popular; we’ve earned a very good reputation for the quality and variety of our pro- grammes.
“We generally receive around 500 applications each year, so to have received 50% more this year is quite surprising. I think it dem- onstrates that young people are increasingly interested in a career in the transport industry and in particular with FirstGroup – the largest public transport operator in the UK.”
The graduates will begin work across the company’s rail and bus divisions.
First’s UK rail division operates one quarter of the UK passenger rail network, across its First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First ScotRail and First TransPen- nine Express franchises, and the open access operator, First Hull Trains. First also operates the London Tramlink network on be- half of Transport for London.
Speakers at the busy event in- cluded representatives from Net- work Rail, Transport for London, the Rail Freight Group, the Na- tional Rail Contractors Group, the Railway Industry Contractors Association, the IMechE and the IET, RIA and the Young Railway Professionals.
The Apprenticeship to Fellowship scheme, which is being led by NSARE and involves all the pro- fessional engineering institutions with an interest in railway engi- neering, will enable apprentices to gain professional recognition at all levels within their engineer- ing institution, and will provide an equally valued route to the top of
the engineering profession in ad- dition to the traditional academic route, NSARE said.
In a statement, the organisation remarked: “It will transform ca- reer opportunities for engineering apprentices joining the railway in- dustry.”
Other items on the conference agenda included an update on the progress NSARE has made dur- ing its fi rst fi ve months of opera- tion, and the launch of the NSARE Limited Membership scheme. The scheme, open to employers and training & skills organisations, pro- vides the opportunity to shape the
future development of the Skills Academy
through attendance
and voting at the NSARE Limited AGM.
Gil Howarth, chief executive of NSARE, said: “The railway engi- neering sector needs to double the number of apprentices it takes on each year, from about 500 to 1,000.
“To fulfi l their potential, we must ensure that they have the op- portunity to obtain the necessary qualifi cations for them to be able to progress right to the very top of their chosen profession.
“We will develop a common ap- proach, in conjunction with em- ployers, which will help and en- courage those apprentices who are willing and able, to progress through the various grades of en- gineering institution membership right through to Fellowship. Ca- reer progression for such individu- als will be helped considerably as a result of this initiative.”
For more information, visit www.
nsare.org/members.aspx
Network Rail has increased its pre-tax profi ts and reduced the costs of running the nation’s rail- ways by £400m this year, it says.
In its full year annual results, it says its profi ts after tax rose to £313m, from £284m in the previ- ous year, 2009/10. Staff numbers fell by around 1,500, from 37,153 to 35,606.
Group fi nance director Patrick Butcher said: “The fi ndings of the Government-commissioned McNulty value for money review show that there are clear oppor- tunities for the whole industry to make further savings in the costs of running the railway. The mes- sage is clear: the rail industry sim- ply has to become more afford- able for the users of the railway network and for taxpayers.”
Its operating costs, excluding de- preciation, reduced to £2,467m
106 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 11
from £2,546m, though its net debts now exceed £25bn, up from £23.8bn in 2009/10.
Network Rail said that operating and maintenance costs per train mile in real terms have fallen by 77p to £7.61 during the last year, which is down from £11.64 seven years ago.
It named a number of major pro- jects it is proud to have made progress on, including the Airdrie to Bathgate link, the new station building at Newport, the upgraded North London and East London lines ahead of the Olympics, the new concourse at King’s Cross, and the milestones achieved as part of the longer-term Thames- link, Reading, and Birmingham New Street projects.
Day-to-day train performance,
however, has been slipping; the latest fi gures, for April, showed
the ‘moving annual average’ public performance measure at 90.8%, down 0.1% from the pe- riod before and down 0.7% year- on-year.
Butcher concluded: “This is a moment of great potential for the rail industry, where real reform for the benefi t of user and taxpayer is a genuine possibility. Network Rail has been in the vanguard of change over the past year and will continue to drive for rapid, safe evolution.
“Examples of our initiatives in- clude moving decision making closer to our customers, part- nering with key industry players and setting up the potential for greater competition as a stimulus to further improvements in perfor- mance. There can be no turning back for reform – the key ques- tion we face is how to deliver at an ever increasing pace.”
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