The National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) is to launch a scheme to encourage unemployed youngsters into a career in the digital railway.
Central to the project is the innovative way that technology will be used, working with a specialist technology partner to develop a digital platform, called Trax, which will host a series of videos that explore the roles and skills of specific rail employees.
The aim is for the young adults who complete the video courses to be signposted to job roles within digital rail or be directed to other opportunities through NSAR Connect and the National Training Partnership.
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The initial pilot will focus on reaching the 60,000 unemployed young people (aged 18 to 24) in London and the South East of England through the Job Centre Plus network.
Following the pilot, Trax will be rolled out across the UK to support the rail industry in filling the forecasted 5,000 digital roles, while at the same time addressing its diversity targets.
The project has been made possible thanks to money from the grant-funding body UFI Charitable Trust.
Rail minister Paul Maynard said: “We are delivering the greatest investment in our railways since Victorian times to give passengers the services they rightly expect. Digital railways are an important part of that transformation and will allow us to run a greater number of services for passengers. It is vital that the next generation of rail employees have the skills to operate in this exciting new environment.”
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