Rail Transport Engineering

The UK has the world’s oldest railway network, and maintaining it is a demanding job that requires an army of skilled engineers to look after the many signals, tracks, lights and trains that make up this complex system.

This Apprenticeship covers many areas of the rail industry: passenger rail services; rail freight services; controlling train movements; and railway infrastructure. This includes work in national rail services, the London Underground, European rail services and light rail services (including trams).

As an apprentice, you could be doing many things, from fixing signals to helping to maintain the tracks.

Trains, of course, need engineers to keep them running, but they also need permanent way (track) engineers to make sure the tracks are in good condition.

Train drivers only know where to go, how fast to travel, and when to approach a station, because of a network of signals. If these go wrong, it could mean delays, or even disasters. Signalling engineers and technicians keep everything in working order.

With other jobs involving laying the track, and maintaining communication links between stations and trains; there are many opportunities for the technically minded on this Apprenticeship.