The employees who make our trains run • Recruitment and training
Note: this page is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for the official page of the operating company or manufacturer.
Staff training has always been one of the cornerstones of railway companies. The specific nature of certain professions means that apprenticeships are essential. While it’s true that a qualified accountant can work directly in his or her profession (learned on the benches of a higher education establishment), the same cannot be said of train drivers, for whom, unlike in aviation, there has never been a school open to all. Infrastructure-related professions are even more specific, and require equally specific training.
In France in 1938, the SNCF inherited the companies’ apprenticeship centers and decided not to change the way they operated until the 1960s. Each apprentice underwent general and then technical training before choosing his or her definitive trade: molder, boilermaker… The best apprentices could follow a second cycle of studies to reach a higher level. Whether at SNCF today, or at CFF, SNCB or elsewhere in Europe, there are almost 150 different professions on offer, with different levels of training and requirements. Given the specific nature of certain professions, particularly those related to rail, special training is mandatory.
In the UK, a number of educational establishments offer training courses geared towards the rail industry, including the Underground. For example, the Capital City College Group (CCCG) claims to be the largest provider of further education in London, and the third largest in the UK, with three colleges – City and Islington College (CANDI), The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) and Westminster Kingsway College (WestKing). The North East London Academy (CONEL) provides apprenticeships in the railway sector in its engineering workshops at CONEL’s Enfield center. Courses provide an in-depth knowledge of track engineering, including rail infrastructure, signalling systems and catenary equipment. According to their website, many of its students are employed by British rail-related companies such as VGC Limited, Volker Rail, Aspins, Infocus Rail, McGinleys and Colas Rail. The academy works with well-known employers such as Siemens, Alstom, Thales and Transport for London.
Another example can be found in France, at the École supérieure des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile, or ESTACA for short. ESTACA is one of 204 French engineering schools accredited to award an engineering degree. ESTACA has been accredited by the Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur (CTI) since 1986. However, ESTACA is one of the few schools or training centers in France to offer training specifically dedicated to rail and guided transport. This is one of the fields with the greatest shortage of engineers today, and the outlook is promising, explains its website.
The first job you think of: driver
To become an SNCF train driver in France, you need a BEP, CAP or even a Bac+3. Electrical skills can prove invaluable, as the rail sector makes extensive use of electric rolling stock.
In Belgium, the SNCB requires a minimum age of 20 (18 in the case of a license limited to Belgian territory), a certificate of higher secondary education of 3rd degree (or equivalent) and medical and psychological fitness. The Belgian public operator has 12 training centers: Brussels, Liège, Namur, Arlon, Charleroi, Mons, Antwerp, Hasselt, Leuven, Ghent, Bruges and Courtrai, with 49 SIMPACT static simulators.
In Switzerland, SBB has 14 training centers for train drivers: Sargans, Ziegelbrücke, Zurich Altstetten, Biel, Solothurn, Brugg, Lausanne, Zurich, Olten, Basel, Rapperswil, Winterthur, Zug and Lucerne. Training lasts 14 to 16 months, depending on the location and skills required. For the duration of the training, the candidate is employed and remunerated by SBB. At the end of the training, the theoretical and practical qualification examination must be passed in accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT). 🟧
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The employees who make our trains run • Lexical