Building a Rail Engineering Learning Pathway

The rail sector has for many years been challenged by the need for experienced and competent rail engineers, from sig-mechanical and sig-electrical trades through to rail track engineers who can ‘sign off’ major project work in construction and maintenance of the rail system. This problem will become even more acute as the promised investment in rail infrastructure in the coming decades is realised. The question is not simply ‘where will we find the skilled and trained people’? It is rather ‘where will we find the skilled and knowledgeable people in numbers, over time’?

Given the present (and growing) interest in rail engineering from several stakeholders in the rail sector, it is proposed that the union explores the idea of a single integrated learning and certification pathway in rail track engineering from the track to university, linked and seamless from Certificate 1 through to Higher Degrees. This pathway is to be open to members who join it from jobs in track building and maintenance, to university graduates who join the railways direct from their time in higher education. The focus is to be on a balance between practical on-the-job learning, local understanding of conditions, and a decent amount of theory to underpin the practice.

The Union and the University will seek support from experts in the field, from employers and from Government at all levels to co-design and implement this pathway. A Scoping Paper will be produced during early 2019 for discussion and adoption by all interested parties.