Training and recruitment
decision makers, attract young people, and define and align education to meet demand. It is now providing a direct connection between Sweden’s train operating companies, the Swedish Association of Railway Contractors, KTH’s Railway Group, Bombardier, the Swedish Construction Federation, the Swedish Transport Administration, Infranord and Vectura, and educational institutions such as St Eriks gymnasium, Trafikverket’s Railway Training Centre, Folkuniversitet, and Stockholm Institute of Technology. This scheme complements Bombardier and KTH’s Railway Signalling Advisory Council which has run three courses providing direct railway signalling education since 2007. About 35 students are engaged in the
The University of Illinois invites industry speakers to its bi-weekly student seminars.
In effect Skillrail and Eurail take this network to the next level by allowing these experts to bring their courses direct to those who require the training. The programme is not restricted by borders and as a result has the potential to facilitate universal international training programmes and an open training market for high-skilled jobs. It should also develop new training models and increase the exchange of information and knowledge. Skillrail has identified possible training courses in all areas of the industry required up to 2020 according to expected technological, legal and market trends, and has already organised four pilot short courses focusing on asset management, rolling stock and railway dynamics, and energy efficiency. A business plan for the programme has been developed and Pereira says Skillrail’s relationship with the UIC is crucial for it to gain access and acceptance by railways. The next step for the programme is to
secure support from railway manufacturers and the Association of European Railway Manufacturers (Unife), which Pereira says is particularly important due to a shift in research and development activities from national railways to the industry. “In order to remain competitive and deliver top-quality solutions, manufacturers have established their own training programmes to provide the necessary technical knowledge, effectively outsourcing this to academia which means their scientific and
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technological data is at the centre of what is being taught,” Pereira says.
Taking the lead
Indeed, Bombardier’s Swedish division has taken the lead on a training programme intended to boost the number of young engineers choosing a career in railway signalling. Mr Per Olofsson, training officer at Bombardier Rail Control Solutions, says that he and Dr Anders Lindahl from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, felt the need to bridge a gap left by the abandonment of a railway education programme led by Sweden’s former infrastructure manager, Banverket. The programme, which commenced in 2007, targeted vocational and secondary schools offering courses in railway engineering and promoted job opportunities. However, Olofsson says this changed when Sweden’s new transport body Trafikverket, formed in 2010, said it was not responsible for supporting railway education. Unwilling to let this education initiative die, Olofsson says that 40 different organisations ranging from schools and suppliers to contractors were invited to two conferences in 2011 to discuss how best to proceed. This resulted in the establishment of a working group and the birth of the Swedish Rail Skill Forum (SRSF) in April 2012.
SRSF has four primary objectives: to analyse market needs and available resources, to influence the market and
programme which offers participants the chance to take part in summer employment and 10-week long apprenticeships. Olofsson says the job prospects make it possible to overcome the stigma that the railway industry is not a “cool” area to work. “The students in the programme hear
rumours that they are likely to get a job as an engineer if they participate,” Olofsson says. “This makes them more interested in taking part and to actually consider railway engineering as a career path. Often the cheapest advert for these types of schemes is that there will be a job waiting at the end of it.” While vocational schools remain training grounds for lower-skilled positions, universities are the source of high-skilled and technical expertise. But as the Bombardier scheme and Skillrail highlight, there is a lack of quality railway-based education available. Olofsson points out that there are only limited books available on signalling, with none available in Swedish, so the courses are taught in English. This problem is also evident at American universities. Dr Pasi Lautala, assistant professor of railway engineering at Michigan Tech, says there are only a handful of dedicated railway engineering professors in the United States. Funding for rail-focused engineering content at universities is also around 1% of that for road, and railways are often covered in general mechanical and civil engineering classes, with many of the professors having limited railway engineering experience. As a result Lautala and Dr Christopher Barkan, director of the Railroad Engineering Programme at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, approached the American
IRJ August 2013
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