Rail Sector and ENLUTC

Hi, my name is Colin and I work for Network Rail Engineering.
I am a Chartered Civil Engineer with many years of experience in railway civil engineering – that’s bridges, tunnels, embankments and track. I started my career by designing and building new bridges and routes. After 6 years practical experience, I passed my professional review with the Institution of Civil Engineers I then progressed to maintaining tracks operating at speeds of up to 100mph / 160kph through a team of technical engineers and staff.
Whether choosing to maintain the existing network or build new schemes requires the best options for investment to be assessed. The costs are significant and the benefits to the travelling public and train operators considered for the next 30-40 years.
I have helped people develop in civil engineering whether they went to university or chose a more practical start to their career. Engineering is truly an investment for all our futures and I hope you will want to explore the opportunities available in the UK and around the world.

Hi Colin,
Thank you for your post, that's brilliant. I am the Business Engagement Leader at the Engineering UTC and my role is to support students with finding out more about opportunities within the engineering sector. We are a 14-19 provision and based in Scunthorpe. Our students chose to join us at either year 10 or year 12 and studying a mainstream GCSE curriculum including English, Maths and Science but then studying Engineering as their option subjects.

In our post 16 provision, our students study the Engineering Diploma at Level 3, alongside the Extended Project Qualification and also Quantitative Reasoning (Level 3 Maths). Our students are involved with having mentors from the engineering industry and we have a number of employer partners including Phillips 66, British Steel and Cristal Pigment Ltd.

I have invited our year 12 students into this forum for them to find out more about careers available within the rail industry. We are based quite close to Doncaster and to the National College For High Speed Rail and I am interested in students finding out about current and future engineering opportunities. They will be logging on at [link removed] this morning once they have registered their accounts. The member of staff who will be online also is called Chris Sands.

Thank you for taking the time to support our students!

Kind regards
Carly

Good morning, My name is Ione Ojanguren and I work for the Rail Delivery Group which is an organisation that brings together train operating companies, Network Rail and HS2. We run an engineering graduate scheme on behalf of our members and I will be happy to answer any questions the students have.

Good morning! My name is Amy and I work as part of the HR team that look after the Advanced Engineering Apprenticeship schemes throughout the business. Looking forward to speaking to you!

Amy

Hi, my name is Darren, I am the Senior Rolling Stock Engineer for Freightliner Group Ltd.
I have been in the Rail Industry since leaving school 30 years ago, having started as a British Rail Apprentice. I have held various roles including Technical Engineer, Fleet Engineer and Major Projects Engineer.
A career highlight was being fortunate enough to be part of the team responsible for the introduction of the GE Transportation class 70 PowerHaul locomotive 9 years ago, which is the most technical innovative Diesel Electric Freight locomotive in the UK to date.
On a day to day basis I am responsible for the maintenance plans for all of our rolling stock ensuring delivery of safe and reliable rolling stock. My team analyse failure data establishing root cause and identify trends for reliability and cost improvements.
I have so far had an incredible career in the industry and thoroughly recommend any young person pondering a career in Engineering to consider the rail industry as an option.

Thank you all for your participation! Our students are just logging in now and will be joining you shortly! :)

what gcse do you need

What apprenticeship schemes does your company offer?

hi, do you offer electrical apprenticeships

Hi, what sort of apprenticeships do you offer at Network Rail? if so how many GCSE's do you need and how long does the application process take.

Hello! What A-Level/BTEC/Technical qualifications would i need to start a career in Civil Engineering? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Do you use CAD, Auto-desk, solid works or any other similar software?

Carly
Its great t learn that your students are following a practical career development.
There are lots of opportunities across the full spectrum of Infrastructure Manager (Network rail) and train builders and operators.
They do not have to be University Graduates.
Colin

Hi, I'm Lynn and I work in the communications team at rail freight company Freightliner. We have an engineering apprenticeship scheme that allows apprentices hands on experience of working with our experienced engineers whilst studying for qualifications in electrical and mechanical engineering. A great way to start a career in engineering!

Fusion 360 not Auto-desk.

For the Network Rail Advanced Engineering apprenticeship scheme you'd need:
GCSE English Language at Grade A* - C / 9 - 5
GCSE Math at Grade A8 - C / 9 - 5
GCSE Science at Grade A* - C / 9 - 5 or NVQ or BTEC Level 2 or above in an Engineering subject.

And
One other GCSE in any subject at Grade A* - C / 9- 5

Hi, do you offer any jobs specifically for university graduates?, thanks.

Hello All, most companies require GCSE;s in Maths, english and science and one other. The fourth GCSE requirement may vary from company to company and also the grade. Southwestern railway for example they require grades over D.

Morning!
Network Rail offer Level 3 Advanced Engineering Apprenticeships which have different career paths (we'd help you to identify which career path is best for you throughout the application and selection process)

The different career paths are:
Track
Off-Track
Overhead Lines
Signalling
Electrification and Plant
Telecoms

That's a wide range of options. 120 points is the target but this can be gathered over time dependent on your situation
If you look on the Institution of Civil Engineers website, they have a very good guide to routes available.
Maths and Physics are fundamental subjects but there is a quite a range of other subjects which are applicable.