Get on track with a career in the rail industry

The railways in Britain are undergoing a transformation unlike anything seen in their history. Crossrail – London’s huge new railway – is now entering its final stages of construction.

Meanwhile, HS2 is set to form the core of what will be one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. Alongside this, Chancellor George Osborne has recently indicated he will continue investing in rail by announcing plans to bring forward spending on the HS3 high-speed rail line, the trans-Pennine tunnel and Crossrail 2.

Overall, the rail sector contributes £7bn a year to the UK economy while employing more than 85,000 people – and that number is expected to increase dramatically. HS2 alone will create around 25,000 jobs during construction and 3,000 jobs when in operation. From now until 2019, the government expects to spend over £38bn to run and improve the rail network, and this investment is expected to create 10,000 new engineering jobs. “Quite simply, the prospects for the industry are more exciting than they have been for generations,” said Baroness Susan Kramer, the former minister of state for transport.