A team of young apprentices began work on the £6.5billion Thameslink project this week as part of the programme’s aim to develop the UK’s next generation of engineers.
The Thameslink-HMS Sultan Apprenticeship scheme sees apprentices spending a year at the joint Network Rail / Royal Navy training facility at HMS Sultan in Gosport. They then spend the remaining two years of their training working alongside Network Rail and its partners on the Thameslink Programme, which aims to transform north-south travel through London.
The first 12 recruits from across the UK finished their stint at Gosport this month and have begun working across a range of disciplines ranging from track, electrical engineering and telecoms and signalling. Recruitment for a further 12 apprentices is underway and another 12 will be recruited in 2015.
Thameslink Programme head of engineering Chris Bins said: “Rail investment is at record levels but we cannot keep improving the network without also investing in people. The Thameslink Programme is designed to transform rail travel through London and we need a diverse and skilled workforce to deliver that”
