Hundreds of jobs pledged as new rail training centre opens in Birmingham

NIS Group and City of Wolverhampton College unveiled it’s latest Transport, Rail and Infrastructure Academy (TRIA) in Aston on Thursday (February 13).

And learners have already been given a boost by employers from a range of sectors pledging 500 new jobs for them.

Training provider NIS Group partnered with the college to develop the academy and jointly invest £250,000 to transform the building into the dedicated facility.

It offers a 15 metre high-speed slab track, 30 metres of conventional track,one high speed set of points, one level crossing barrier and training facilities for civil engineering programmes.

The academy has also garnered support from a number of employers including Buildforce Solutions, Linsco, Randstad and Danny Sullivan Group who have guaranteed opportunities for people progressing through the courses to work on a host of existing and future construction and rail projects.

ISS and NIS Group have also launched the official training and employment

partnership, which will ensure learners interested in rail career opportunities will be offered work across the Network Rail infrastructure.

TRIA Aston is the third dedicated academy in the NIS Group’s West Midlands portfolio and follows its original base at City of Wolverhampton College’s Wellington Road campus in Bilston and the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO)’s Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley.

David Carns, chief executive officer and founder of NIS Group said: “Everything we do is focused on helping people secure sustainable long-term jobs.

“The fact we have over 500 jobs pledged by employers before the centre officially opens shows the urgent need for workers in the infrastructure, rail and construction sectors, not to mention the belief these companies have in our ability to train individuals to industry standards.

“This is such an incentive for individuals considering a career in this field.

They can immediately see that by embarking on the training with us that there is a guaranteed job at the end of it.

“We’ll make sure that by the time they finish with us they will have the base skills, the qualifications and, in some cases, specialist knowledge of certain

disciplines to be an immediate success.”

Councillor Sharon Thompson, Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands, who attended the launch said: “We have too many young people out of work in the West Midlands, which is why reducing youth unemployment is a key priority for both the mayor and myself.

“At a time of huge investment in rail across our region, this academy will get hundreds of young people ready to begin a rewarding career building and supporting the railways of the future.”

Buildforce Solutions has pledged 100 jobs to the scheme and director Jim Fleming said: “The skills shortage in the construction and infrastructure industries is well documented which is why facilities like this are really important.

“Our relationship with NIS Group means we have taken candidates out of the TRIA programme and been able to put them on construction sites almost immediately.

“We look forward to being able to continue this and strengthening our relationship with NIS Group and City of Wolverhampton College.”

And Peter Merry, deputy principal and chief executive at the college, said: “In setting up the Transport and Rail Infrastructure Academy, the partnership between the college and NIS Group is contributing to the regeneration of the region by equipping local people of all ages, abilities and levels of experience with the skills needed to work in the construction and maintenance of train lines, tram routes and stations across the West Midlands and beyond.

“Alongside the existing TRIA sites in Wolverhampton and Dudley, the opening of the third site in Aston is fantastic news as it will enable even more people to access high quality specialist industry-specific training to enable them to work in this priority sector.”